Out of Sight
by tamilnadu09
Summary: "In death, you were the one who made me feel most alive." With Silas two steps ahead of them, Damon and Elena race against time to outsmart the ultimate threat while Caroline and Jeremy turn to an unlikely source for help. Post 4x23 fic. [Includes characters from The Originals series].
1. Being Human

**A/N: **as promised, my annual TVD-how-to-survive-the-hiatus fic ;) for the record, I will be staying away from spoilers about the upcoming season because I already have a storyline planned out. On that note, this fic takes place immediately post 4x23 and will encompass the summer before the characters head off to college. Enjoy!

* * *

Damon stood over the spot on the carpet where he'd last seen Alaric, and stared into the distance unseeingly. He held a glass in his hands; how long he'd been holding it, he didn't know.

It was only when he heard a noise at the front door that he finally came back to his senses. He breathed out slowly, closing his eyes. "Goodbye, friend," he said quietly, raising his glass in one last tribute. Then he tossed back the liquid, not feeling any of the burn as it slid down his throat—only the numbness that followed. Nevertheless, he smiled as he placed the glass down. It wasn't a happy smile by any means, but one of acceptance.

His peaceful mood evaporated mere seconds later, however, when Elena appeared in the hallway. Under normal circumstances, he would've been happy to see her. Unfortunately, she also happened to be dragging the body of the absolute last person he wanted to see.

With a thump and a groan, Elena let her doppelganger's body fall to the ground. Letting out a gust of air, she impatiently brushed stray strands of hair out of her face and placed a hand on her hip in annoyance. "A little help would be nice!"

Damon grimaced, "What on earth did you bring her here for? And what the hell happened to you?"

"I had a little run-in with Kol," Elena began.

He made a face and held up a hand to stop her, "Say no more. Just promise me the other guy looks worse."

She opened her mouth, hesitated, then continued, "Well he's back to being a dead nobody on the other side, so…yeah, I guess you could say that."

Damon looked away, momentary sadness flitting across his face. "I know. Alaric disappeared, too. Bonnie must've put the veil back up completely."

Elena stared at him, her eyes widening at the implication. Her hands flew to her mouth, "Oh god, Jeremy!"

Damon winced inwardly, "You never found him to say goodbye?"

She shook her head once, taking a deep shuddering breath as her eyes filled with tears. Damon immediately moved towards her, letting her melt into his embrace. "You got to spend one last day with him," he reminded her, "That's one more day than other people get."

She nodded quickly, wiping away her tears. "No, I know," she said with a muffled voice as she buried her face into his chest. "But I wish I could've said goodbye." After a beat, she raised her head suddenly to look at him. "Did Alaric…did you get to...?"

"Not in so many words," Damon smiled a little, raising his thumb to brush away at the wetness on her cheek. "But he was here for his last moments, and I guess that's the best I could've hoped for."

Elena nodded in understanding, then raised her own hand to her face and squeezed his hand gently. "I'll miss him, too." Then, still holding onto his hand, she led him to where Katherine's body was lying. "So, we kind of have a problem."

"When has this bitch ever _not _been a problem?" Damon quipped, but his sarcasm faded when he noted the serious expression on Elena's face. "What is it? You snapped her neck, so what? She came after you, I'm sure she deserved it. Don't worry, we'll send her packing when she comes to."

"I, ah, didn't snap her neck."

Damon looked at Elena, then looked back over to Katherine in confusion. The doppelganger lay there, looking for all the world like she was taking a temporary dirt nap. "Vervain?"

"No," Elena bit her lip, looking far more nervous than the situation accounted for.

Damon narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "What are you trying to tell me here, Elena?"

"She was going to kill me," Elena hedged, shifting from foot to foot. "There was no one around to help; I didn't have any choice!"

"Any choice about wh—" He broke off abruptly, putting the pieces together and arriving at a rather horrifying conclusion. "You didn't," he hissed, yanking his hand out of her grasp and blurring around to the other side of Katherine's body so that he could get a better look. "Tell me you didn't, Elena."

She crossed her arms, peeking out at him from underneath her bangs. "I did," she swallowed, "I gave her the cure."

Damon turned away, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. He paced back and forth, along the length of Katherine's body. "Stefan," he said finally, pointing a finger in Elena's direction. "Stefan is going to have a field day with this one." He paused to scowl, "And _I'm _not telling him!"

Elena pursed her lips, "I offered it to him—he didn't take it!"

That gave Damon pause, and he whirled around to gape at her, "What?"

"Stefan loathes being a vampire…I just thought that, well, if anyone deserved to become human again, it was him."

"And he didn't take it?"

She shook her head, "He said that he did all of this so that the cure would be my choice to take—or not take, as the case may be."

"That's all well and good, Elena, but I highly doubt that Stefan would've wanted _Katherine _of all people to get it!"

Elena shrugged, not looking particularly worried. "It might not be an ideal situation, but that's just how things turned out and now we have to make the best of it."

"When she wakes up, she's going to be _so—"_

"Human," Elena interrupted, a flicker of a smug smile flitting across her face. "She's going to be mortal and human, and she's going to get everything she deserves."

Damon cleared his throat, "And by _deserve, _you mean…?"

She scoffed, her gaze becoming steely. "Katherine said she was jealous of my life; she said that I had everything she ever wanted—well, let's just see what she thinks of my life now that she's human!"

"So, this is payback," Damon surmised, studying Elena's expression. "I thought so."

"Karma has a funny way of coming around," she responded flippantly. "And yes, Damon, I will break the news to Stefan myself. Where is he?"

"Out dumping Silas' body into the quarry," he answered, following her to the door. "And just where do you think you're going?"

"To look for Stefan," she said matter-of-factly, looking as though the answer should've been obvious. "Let's go."

"But what about Klaus-bait back there?"

Elena stopped on the threshold, turning to look at Damon in bewilderment. "What are you talking about?"

He raised an eyebrow, wondering if she was playing the naïve card or if the thought actually hadn't occurred to her. "Katherine is _the _human-doppelganger now, Elena. Klaus is going to want her blood to make hybrids now."

Realization washed over her features, but then her expression hardened. "So she'll finally know what it felt like to be a human blood bag. Good."

"Elena—"

She heaved a sigh, "Calm down, Damon. What Klaus doesn't know won't hurt him."

"What if he's still in town?"

"I doubt it. He's probably halfway back to New Orleans by now. What else could he possibly have left to do in Mystic Falls? Caroline's entire family is here; she can hardly sit around and entertain him."

"Someone should still stay with her until she wakes up," Damon insisted, "I don't want to leave a human, and let's just say it, an extremely _volatile _Katherine alone in my house."

"Fine," Elena threw her hands into the air in exasperation, "You can stay here and I'll go find Stefan."

She had already reached the car when he called after her, "By the way…Stefan knows."

Elena paused, not turning around to face him. "Knows what?'

"He overheard," Damon replied slowly, staring at her tensed back. "Vampire hearing and all that."

"And?"

Damon shoved his hands in his pockets, glancing over his shoulder when he heard a moan coming from the living room. "And he'll live," he said in answer to Elena's unspoken question. "I think sleeping beauty is about to wake up. You should go; it would probably be best if you weren't the first face she sees."

Elena rolled her eyes as she got into the car and started the engine. "Then make sure she doesn't look into the mirror!" she called out to Damon, flashing him a grin as she sped away down the street.

* * *

She'd had every intention of heading straight for the quarry to find Stefan, but fifteen minutes later, she found herself at the cemetery instead. Elena reached out with trembling fingers to touch Jeremy's headstone. "I wish we could've said goodbye," she whispered, "But Damon's right. I had one day with you, one final day. That's more than I could've asked for."

Elena knelt down, smiling sadly at the engraving in front of her. "I'm glad you and Alaric have each other. Even if I can't be there with you, you'll always have family." She was just getting to her feet, when she saw it: the corner of an envelope sticking out from under some leaves.

With shaking hands, she pulled it out and brushed off the dirt to see her name scrawled across the front—Jeremy's handwriting.

_Dear Elena,  
__I promised you today would be a day of no tears,  
and I wanted to keep that promise.  
It's your graduation day, and I couldn't be more proud of you.  
Forgive me for not saying goodbye,  
but I didn't want that to be your last memory of me.  
Thank you for always being the strongest person I know, sis.  
I love you, and I'll always be watching over you.  
-Jeremy_

She didn't know when she had started crying, and she paid no heed as her tears fell onto the letter that she clutched against her stomach, sobbing uncontrollably. "I...I love you too, Jer," she managed to gasp out as she curled onto the ground, "I love you, too."

"Elena, don't cry."

She stilled and slowly rose onto her knees again. Now she was hearing voices. That was just great.

"Elena?"

Her brother's voice, to be specific.

"Don't freak out."

It was funny, she could almost even _feel _someone's hand on her shoulder. She supposed she was long past due for a mental breakdown, but really, this wasn't something she wanted to deal with right now.

"Elena, can you please turn around and look at me?" The grip on her shoulder tightened, until she was eventually forced to rise to her feet and face the direction of the voice.

"Look," she said determinately to the person that looked like Jeremy, "I don't know what kind of mind game this is, but I don't want any part of it, understand?"

Jeremy held onto both of her arms now, crouching down slightly so he could peer into her eyes. "It's me, Elena. Bonnie—" He choked on her name, but then cleared his throat, hoping Elena hadn't heard the catch in his voice. "Bonnie did a spell to bring me back. That's what she was trying to do before, but then the veil stayed open and she couldn't close it, but now..."

Elena met his gaze, and he could already see the skepticism vanishing. "Now?" she breathed out hopefully, her fingers digging into his arms, as though trying to test if he was real or not. "It...it worked?"

"It worked," Jeremy confirmed, grinning as Elena rushed into his arms and enveloped him in a hug. "I'm here," he whispered, "I'm back."


	2. Better Than Revenge

**A/N: **thank you for the supportive reviews, tweets, etc!

* * *

With a groan, Katherine raised her throbbing head from the ground and looked around blearily. She blinked once, then twice, as everything went in and out of focus. Her gaze finally landed on Damon, who was sitting on the sofa across from her and watching her with interest.

"What's happening?" Katherine painstakingly pushed herself into a sitting position, "Why…how come I'm not healing?"

Damon tilted his head at her, "I guess mortality isn't all it's cracked up to be, is it?"

"Mortality?" she looked up at him, trying to gauge his reaction. "What are you talking about?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

She frowned, thinking back. "Elena," she answered slowly, "We were—" Then she broke off, her eyes widening.

"And there it is," Damon shot her a half grin, "I would say payback's a bitch, but that look on your face tells me you already figured that one out."

"No," Katherine tried to get to her feet, letting out a hiss of pain as her muscles screamed in protest. "No, I can't be human! I refuse to be human!" She stumbled towards the nearest mirror, and gaped at her reflection in horror. "N-no," she said wildly, "It's vervain, tell me it's just vervain!"

Damon walked towards her, turning her around so that they were both facing the mirror. "Look at yourself, Katherine," he said into her ear, "Face your own humanity."

Her hands clenched into fists as she shoved against him furiously, "Where's Elena? I'm going to kill her!"

"She's out looking for Stefan," he said in amusement as he caught both her fists in one hand. "Don't worry, she'll be back soon enough." He pretended to ponder the issue for a minute, "Probably to kill you, because she can. But by all means, stick around to find out."

"She wouldn't dare," Katherine growled, "Now that her precious switch is back on, she would never take a human life!"

"I'm sure allowances can be made for the murderess of Jeremy Gilbert." He glanced at her as he said the words, and enjoyed the uncertainty that flashed across her face. "Tell me something, Katherine," he wandered back across the room and took a seat, inviting her to do the same. "Did you really tell Elena that you were jealous of _her life_?"

She didn't respond, which was all the confirmation that Damon needed.

"Wow," he commented disbelievingly, "You're going to have to explain that one to me, Kat."

Katherine scowled, "Elena was never grateful for how good she had it! She got to have prom, graduation, a normal life with friends and family—"

"Friends?" Damon interrupted, "Family?" He leaned forward on the sofa, towards Katherine. "Let me put things into perspective for you, since you seem to be verging on the bend of delusional." She shot him a scathing look, which he ignored as he began counting on his fingers. "Jenna, John Gilbert, Miranda and Grayson, Isobel, Jeremy, Alaric…"

"What about them?"

"Do you know what that list is?" Damon snapped, "The list of family members—the only family she's ever known—that weren't able to see her graduate."

Katherine pursed her lips.

"And what was the other thing you mentioned? Oh, that's right, _prom." _His features hardened, "You're not Rebekah; I know you don't care about a glorified school dance. What is this really about?"

There was a minute of silence before she exploded. "I have nothing, Damon! Klaus killed my entire family, he sent me on the run for _years, _I never got to meet my daughter, you and Stefan both fell in love with my carbon copy the second you laid eyes on her, I—"

"Created your own fate," Damon snarled, "If you weren't such a manipulative bitch, if you had shown an ounce of compassion just once in your lifetime, if maybe you weren't always LOOKING OUT FOR YOURSELF—"

"You don't know anything about me, Damon!" she shouted, "Elena wouldn't have lasted a DAY in my shoes."

It was the mention of Elena's name that calmed him down, more than anything else. He didn't reply as he poured himself another drink, very aware of the fact that Katherine was watching his every move. "I guess we'll never know," he finally said to her, "But now you get to walk in her shoes, for however long you manage to stay alive without the _long _list of people you've screwed over coming to collect on their revenge." He smiled at her before walking out of the room, "Good luck with that."

* * *

"I can't wait to tell everyone you're back," Elena said enthusiastically to Jeremy as they drove towards the quarry. "Stefan, Matt, Bonnie...they're going to be so happy to have you back, Jer." She reached over with one hand across the passenger seat so that she could squeeze his arm, "You have no idea what it means to have you here. I don't know how I would've survived without you."

"Yeah, we saw how well you took the news the first time around," Jeremy tried to joke, hoping that Elena hadn't seen the look on his face when she'd mentioned Bonnie's name. He took a deep breath and turned to face her with a smile, "I missed you too."

She smiled back at him, giving his arm one last squeeze before pulling to a stop on the edge of the quarry. "Come on, he should be around here somewhere."

They both got out of the car, with Jeremy trailing behind her. "Have you given any thought to _how _we're going to explain to people that I'm back?"

Elena paused, contemplating. The truth was, the thought hadn't occurred to her at all. She'd been too happy at having him back to realize that the entire town _knew _he was dead. There had been a funeral, he had a headstone in the cemetery, the school had done a memorial service...

"I guess not," he noted, raising an eyebrow at the expression on her face. "Don't worry, Elena, I'm sure we'll figure something out."

"Maybe Bonnie can do a spell to make everyone forget or something," she wondered out loud, "What do you think?"

"I think Bonnie has done enough," Jeremy said, his voice coming out sharper than he'd intended it to. When Elena looked surprised, he softened his tone. "Sorry, it's just that she's brought me back from the dead—twice—and I don't know, I already feel like I owe her so much."

Elena nodded in understanding, "No, of course you're right. I don't know where we'd be without her." She fished into her pocket for her cell phone, "That reminds me, I didn't even thank her yet for bringing you back, I should—"

"Wait!" Jeremy's hand shot out to stop her from dialing, "Um, Bonnie isn't here."

She frowned in confusion, "What do you mean she's not here?"

"I mean...she told me she was going to spend the summer with her mom. She already left."

Elena's frown deepened, "Bonnie left to go visit her mom? Tonight? But she just brought you back! Didn't she want to spend the summer with you?"

"I told her we'd skype," Jeremy lied easily, grabbing his sister's hand to distract her. "Come on, I thought we were here to find Stefan. I don't see his car anywhere, do you?"

She walked to the edge of the quarry, using her enhanced vision to do a sweep of the area. "I don't see him. Maybe we already missed him?"

"Check this out," Jeremy pointed, kneeling down onto the ground. "See these fresh tire tracks? Someone was here just before us." He let his gaze follow another trail of footprints, ones that went near the edge of the drop over the water. "And see this? Someone already dragged something heavy up to the edge. I guess he must've already finished the job." He looked up to see Elena watching him in awe. "What?"

She shook her head with a smile, "There's a part of me that always sees you as my little kid brother. Sometimes I forget just how grown up and smart you've gotten over the years. I'm so proud of you, Jer."

"Alright, alright," he said, rolling his eyes. "Can we table the mushy stuff for tonight? I mean, I'm glad to be back and everything, but there's only so much girly let's-discuss-our-feelings talk that I can tolerate."

Elena snorted, giving him a good-natured shove. "Oh shut up," she said with a laugh as they headed back to the car, "You know, you remind me of Damon sometimes."

"Now why do you have to insult me?"

She shot him a dry look, "Get into the car, Jer."

He grinned and was about to follow behind her, when he caught sight of another set of footprints that he hadn't noticed before. "That's odd."

"What?"

"It looks like there were two people here before us, not just Stefan."

Elena was about to shrug it off, when she remembered what Damon had told her. "Oh yeah, he drove down here with Lexi, I forgot."

"Lexi?" His eyes narrowed as he studied the tracks, "It doesn't look like a woman's footprints. It looks like another guy. See how it's similar to Stefan's?"

"Another guy?" Elena came back over to join him. She stared down at the ground, but failed to see what was making Jeremy look so puzzled. "Well, maybe they're from earlier when Damon dragged Vaughn down here." She tugged on his arm, "Come on, it's getting late. I don't want to leave Damon with Katherine for too long. He might end up killing her."

"Katherine?" Jeremy asked as he got into the car, "What are you talking about?"

She revved up the engine, realizing she hadn't spilled the night's events yet. "It's a long story. I'll tell you on the way back."

* * *

Katherine glared as two people walked into the living room a half hour later. But her expression flickered when she saw who one of them was. "What is _he _doing here?"

Damon walked down the stairs a second later, "There you are, did you find Stef—" He came to a halt about halfway down the staircase, his eyes bugging out almost comically. "Did we all somehow die while I was sleeping? Because that would seriously suck."

Elena shook her head, a smile spreading across her face. "We're not dead, we're not on the other side, nothing like that."

He joined her in the living room, looking from her to Jeremy. "Then what's going on?" he asked cautiously, "How are we seeing him?"

"The witch," Katherine breathed, "She actually pulled off the impossible. She brought him back from the other side. Permanently."

"You're alive?" Damon repeated incredulously, reaching out to grasp Jeremy's very corporeal shoulder. "You're here...how is this possible?"

"I don't know," Elena grinned, "And I don't care." She interlaced her fingers with Jeremy's, "I'm not going to question a good thing."

Damon nodded slowly, his heart twinging slightly at the look of genuine happiness blossoming across her face. All magic came at a price, but he wasn't going to remind her of that detail right now. He'd have to question Jeremy separately, later on. He immediately shot a warning look at Katherine to insure that she wouldn't say anything either, but he was in luck, as she clearly had a much more pressing matter to deal with.

"Well, Elena," Katherine gritted her teeth as she got to her feet, "The latest stunt you've pulled just proved to me that you're still the stupid, insipid, little girl that I always knew you were."

"Oh, Katherine," she smiled sweetly, "You should be thanking me, I was doing you a favor! What happened to being jealous of my life? Now you get to live it." She took a step towards her doppelganger, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Let's see how long you survive being _hunted _at every turn...I might have survived everything that you, Klaus, and Silas threw at me—but that was only because everyone I loved stood by my side."

She stopped an inch away from Katherine's face, "Let's see how long you survive...with _nobody _having your back." Elena's voice grew cold, "That's what happens when you screw over everyone that has ever cared for you. Most of them are dead, and the ones that are alive...well, I'm pretty sure they want nothing to do with you."

Damon and Jeremy both gazed at Elena, their expressions ranging from mild surprise to slight concern. Katherine looked furious, "I want you to remember this day, Elena. I want you to remember the words that you spoke to me." She didn't back down, instead facing Elena head on as she lowered her voice threateningly, "Because I swear, I will ensure that you regret them."

"I'd like to see you try," Elena replied unconcernedly. "See, I was planning on killing you for what you did to my brother. But he's back now, and besides...I think watching you fail at being a _weak _human will be revenge enough." With that, she tossed her hair over her shoulder, "Now, get out."

Katherine's head snapped up, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Get out. You don't live here." Elena gazed at her indifferently, "Just because we're not going to kill you doesn't mean that we owe you anything."

"You don't get to order me around," Katherine hissed, getting into Elena's face. "You forget your place, Gilbert."

"Alright," Damon intervened, stepping between them. "As much as I love a good cat fight, this isn't as much as a turn on as I thought it would be."

"Gross," Jeremy muttered under his breath, "I'm gonna head upstairs. Turns out that coming back from the dead really just takes a toll on a person."

Damon was focused on holding the two doppelgangers apart, so he didn't turn around to acknowledge Jeremy's sentiments. "Choose any room you'd like, there's plenty."

Katherine sneered, "Aw, shacking up with the Gilbert family, how sweet. It's everything you ever wanted, Damon." A cruel smile played at her lips, "I wonder what Stefan thinks about these new living arrangements."

"How about we ask him?" Elena shot back, turning to look at Damon impatiently. "Well, where is he?"

"What? I thought you went to go find him!"

"He'd already left by the time we got to the quarry...I thought he came back home?"

"He hasn't been here," Damon frowned, releasing Elena and Katherine from his grasp. "Where could he have gone?"


	3. O Brother, Where Art Thou?

**A/N: **I'm loving reading everyone's theories and thoughts about where S5 is headed. Thank you again for the incredible responses to this fic! xoxo

* * *

"I'm just saying," Damon said through gritted teeth, "That's what must've happened." He shoved Caroline's phone into her face, "Now, call Klaus and demand that he hand Stefan over!"

"Oh yeah, making demands to Klaus—that's really going to work out," Jeremy snorted, leaning against the bar next to Matt. "Why are you so sure that he took Stefan, anyway?"

"Because this is _exactly _what happened the last time I got a werewolf bite," Damon answered in exasperation, "He took Stefan as payment and disappeared for _months." _He paused to look over at Elena before he spoke again, this time choosing his words more carefully. "I just don't want history to repeat itself."

"Klaus wouldn't have taken him," Caroline insisted, "He was willing to cure you without asking for anything in return. He would've told us if there was a price to pay!"

"Not if he wanted to impress you."

"That's just my point," she leaned over the counter, gesturing for Matt to get her a bottle of vodka from behind the bar. "If Klaus is trying to change and be a better man and everything, then why would he drag Stefan off to New Orleans?"

"Well, we'll never know if you don't call him and find out," Elena took the phone out of Damon's hands and slid it down the length of the bar to Caroline. "Look, we're not accusing him of anything, we're just asking him a simple question."

Caroline took the phone, but didn't make a move to do anything with it. "Yeah," she muttered, "I'm real sure he's going to see things from your perspective."

"Alright, that's it," Damon snapped, "What's going on? What aren't you telling us?"

She hesitated but then heaved a sigh, "Okay, fine. The reason I don't want to call Klaus is because he…well, before he left, he sort of gave me a graduation gift."

"A gift?" Matt repeated incredulously, "What kind of gift? Money? A car?"

"No," she answered, her eyes lighting up, "He told me he was going to let Tyler come back home!"

Elena's eyebrows rose in surprise, "What? He's not after Tyler anymore?"

Damon looked like he was straining not to roll his eyes, "How touching."

The door to the Grill dinged open at that moment, and they all turned to see Rebekah saunter in. She paid no attention to the small group gathered at the bar, and instead made a beeline for Matt. "The bags are all packed in the car," she informed him, "Ready to go?"

"Go?" Caroline interrupted, turning to gape at Matt in bewilderment. "Where are you going?"

"Well," Matt hopped over the counter and landed neatly beside them, "I guess you could say that this is Bex's graduation gift to me."

"But—" Jeremy began, but then fell silent when Rebekah turned to look at him questioningly.

"I know," Matt's brow furrowed as he met Jeremy's gaze. "You just got back from the dead, and Bonnie is off visiting her mother, and now this whole Katherine thing...I should stay, shouldn't I?"

Rebekah looked alarmed.

"What? No," Jeremy shook his head firmly, "You don't have to feel responsible for everyone, Matt. You're the one that brought my sister back from the brink of losing her humanity completely. You've already done more than enough for everyone in this town...Trust me, I'll still be here when you get back. We'll _all_ still be here. It's about time you did something for yourself." He glanced over at Rebekah, whose expression had softened after his speech. "It's just for the summer, right?"

She nodded, watching as Matt reached over to give Jeremy a hug. "You _better_ still be here when I get back. Don't go dying on me again, alright?"

Elena smiled slightly, exchanging a glance with her brother. "Don't worry, I won't let him."

"Um, can we just hold on a second here?" Caroline exclaimed, "Matt, you're really going on a road trip with _her!?" _

"Yeah," Matt answered slowly, "I think I am." He joined Rebekah at the door before turning back around to face them. "Look, I know you guys probably think I'm crazy…but I've never been _anywhere_ in my entire life. And I don't want to be _that _guy—the one that sticks around his tiny town, never going anywhere, never seeing the world. I…I want more than that."

Caroline's gaze dropped to the ground then, almost guiltily. Elena, on the other hand, came forward to envelope Matt in a hug. "I understand," she whispered into his ear, "Just be careful, okay?"

"I will," he promised, before digging into his pocket and producing a set of keys. "Could you do me a favor and give these to Tyler when he gets back to town? It's still his house, after all."

"I'll do it," Caroline's heels clicked against the ground as she came forward to receive the keys. She embraced Matt, but then turned to look at Rebekah sternly. "If he comes back ANY less human than he is now—"

"Yeah, yeah, you'll have Klaus dagger me," Rebekah rolled her eyes, "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to him."

Damon blurred forward suddenly, blocking their exit. "Before you go," he said to Rebekah, "You wouldn't happen to know where Stefan is, would you?"

"No," she replied shortly, "Why? Has he gone missing?"

"Yes, now that you mention it, he has." Damon glanced over his shoulder at Caroline, "And _someone _is too scared to call Klaus and find out if he's taken Stefan again."

"Oh please," Rebekah scoffed, "My brother has no use for Stefan at the moment. Elijah is with him in New Orleans, and—" She broke off, also glancing over at Caroline speculatively. "And...he has quite enough to be dealing with at the moment."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Caroline demanded, "What is he dealing with?"

"Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about," Rebekah smiled indulgently, "Have a good summer, Caroline."

The door dinged shut.

* * *

"I just want to know what she was insinuating!" Caroline grumbled as they all filed into the Salvatore house twenty minutes later. "I mean, she wouldn't have mentioned it if Klaus wasn't up to something, right?"

"For heaven's sake," Damon whirled around to face her, towering over her threateningly. "How about you spend less time worrying about Klaus, and a little more time finding a way to let Tyler know that it's safe to return to Mystic Falls!"

"Well?" Katherine's voice interrupted their argument, and they all turned to see her haughtily descending down the staircase. "What did you guys find out? Does Klaus have Stefan?"

"We're not sure yet," Elena crossed her arms, watching her through narrowed eyes. "But on the plus side, we found you a place to live."

Katherine paused, "Excuse me?"

"Rebekah has left town for the summer with Matt, so the Mikealsen house is empty," Elena informed her doppelganger sweetly. "So how about you clear out of here and go deal with your humanity someplace else?"

Caroline pursed her lips as she stared down Katherine with disdain. "Remind me again why we can't kill her?"

"Because that would make us no better than _her_," Elena replied, glancing over at Caroline. "Look, I know that she's responsible for turning you into a vampire—"

"Yeah," Caroline replied forcefully, "She was. And she deserves to pay for everything she's done, Elena! She doesn't get to have a free pass just because she's human and vulnerable now—did she care that I was human when she killed me? Did she care that Jeremy was the last of your family when she killed him?"

Damon smirked over at Katherine, "And the list of people you've screwed over begins. I warned you about this yesterday, didn't I? If you had any good sense, you would be halfway across the world by now."

"Not until I find Stefan!"

"Stefan isn't going to save you now!" Elena shouted, losing her composure completely. "Get out, Katherine!"

"Or what?" Katherine challenged, her eyes flashing. "You already said that you won't kill me. What do I have to be afraid of?"

Elena's gaze hardened, and she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. "You don't want to push me, Kat."

Katherine placed her hands on her hips, a sneer on her lips. "Don't try to threaten me, Elena. It doesn't suit you. The doe eyes are a dead giveaway."

Elena ignored the jibe. "I'll do it," she warned, her finger hovering over the talk button. "I will call Klaus right now and inform him that his hybrid dreams just became a reality again."

Katherine stiffened, "You wouldn't."

"Oh yes," Elena's voice was cold, "I would."

There were a few moments of silence during which time Katherine's eyes darted around the living room, as though hoping someone would speak up. When no one did, she abruptly stalked out of the room. "Fine," she snarled as she passed them, "I'm leaving."

"Bye," Elena waved cheerfully, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

"Are we sure her switch is back on?" Caroline asked doubtfully as she peered at Elena. Behind them, the front door slammed shut with a bang. "Only, it doesn't really seem like it."

Elena's posture relaxed and she turned towards Caroline with a smile. "Trust me, my humanity is back," she assured her friend, "I just don't see any reason to show kindness to someone who has never shown it to me or anyone else that I care about." As she spoke the words, she wandered over to Damon and placed herself firmly at his side, her arm sliding around his waist.

Caroline's expression flickered.

"Before you say anything," Elena said softly, "You can't choose who you fall in love with. Once your heart decides it wants someone, you just have to take a leap and follow wherever it may lead you." She smiled up at Damon before looking back over at Caroline, "I would've thought that you, of all people, might be able to understand that."

"Alright, fine," Caroline crossed her arms, avoiding her gaze. "Well, but...did Stefan know about your decision?"

"Yes, he did."

She frowned, "Then what's not to say that he decided to leave town himself?"

Damon looked away, but didn't reply.

Elena glanced up, confused. "Damon? What is it? You think Stefan left?"

"He did mention that he would leave town if..." Damon admitted, trailing off at the end. "Well, you know."

She extracted herself out of his arms so that she could face him accusingly, "Why didn't you say anything? This whole time we thought Klaus had taken him, but he could've just decided to leave _voluntarily?" _

"Stefan wouldn't leave without saying goodbye," Damon said in a low voice, "I know him. He wouldn't."

"How are you so sure?" Caroline asked tensely, "Maybe he thought his last job was to get rid of Silas' body, and then he just took off! You said Lexi was with him; maybe she convinced him to just leave without a long drawn-out goodbye."

"No," Damon snapped, "He wouldn't do that. And I'm going to find out what happened, with or without your help."

* * *

Katherine grumbled to herself as she nudged open the door to the Mikealsen house. Everything was impeccably clean, probably the result of Rebekah's need for perfection combined with Elijah's penchant for tastefulness. She mindlessly walked through the rooms, ending up in Klaus' art studio. She picked up various paintings, sometimes wrinkling her nose in distaste, but other times acknowledging the unmistakable talent.

She had just picked up an abstract piece to examine it, when she heard it: a clatter of noise from the kitchen. Her heart began thudding dully in her chest—and for the first time in hundreds of years—adrenaline shot through her body. It was a strange feeling, leaving her momentarily light-headed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, desperately trying to keep her wits about her.

Then she heard another noise, this one sounding much closer than the last. Frantic, she let her gaze sweep the room for a weapon she could use, finally finding some sort of sharp metal art tool lying on the edge of the desk in the corner of the room. She tiptoed forward to get it.

The floorboard below her gave a particularly loud creak.

Throwing all caution to the wind, she rushed forward to grab the tool. Once it was firmly in her hand, she spun on her heel, brandishing it in front of her with a lot more bravado than she actually felt.

A second later, there was a clatter as it fell loosely from her hand. Her mouth dropped open in shock, "S-Stefan?"

Silas stood in front of her, his eyes glinting as he treated her to a slow smile, "Hello, Katherine."


	4. The Witch Hunt Begins

**A/N:** thank you again for all the reviews! I've been doing my best to answer all of your questions and theories. hope you enjoy the latest installment!

* * *

_Ring. _One.

_Ring. _Two.

_Ring. _Three.

Caroline was just about to hang up, but he finally answered halfway through the fourth ring. "And to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Hi," she cleared her throat, adding unnecessarily, "It's me."

Klaus didn't respond with a sarcastic remark, even though she was fully expecting him to. "You know, you people in Mystic Falls do seem to run into your fair share of werewolf bites. Have you considered perhaps, oh I don't know, _leaving?"_

The end of his sentence was pointed, and more than a little accusatory. Caroline shifted uncomfortably, "This is my home, Klaus."

"Of course it is." He heaved a disappointed sigh, "Alright then, get on with it. Who is it this time?"

Caroline frowned, puzzled. "Who is...what?"

"Is it Damon again?" he asked her impatiently, "Or, let me guess, it's precious Elena, isn't it?"

"Oh," she drew out the word in sudden realization, "No, no, that's not why I'm calling."

There was a moment of silence before he asked sharply, "Has something happened to you? Because I swear I will hunt down whoever—"

"No," she cut in hastily, "I'm fine. And this isn't about werewolf bites or werewolf venom or anything like that."

"Really?" Klaus sounded cautious, "So you don't need my help with anything?"

She bit her lip, deciding to avoid the question for the time being. "I actually called because I wanted to thank you again…you know, for the gift." There was a longer pause this time, during which Caroline drummed her fingertips nervously against the table in front of her. "Klaus? You still there?"

The change in his demeanor was readily apparent. "I was just waiting for you to drop the act, Caroline. No need for all the pretense." Caroline swallowed, picturing the expression on his face at that exact instant. She shivered.

"I..." she trailed off, wondering if she should push her luck. "Who says I need anything? Maybe I was just calling to—"

"To what?" he challenged, "To hear about how I'm doing in New Orleans?"

Caroline hesitated, not wanting to seem too eager. Instead, she opted for a casually curious tone. "Sure, now that you mention it...Rebekah tells me you've been up to quite a lot over there."

"Oh, did she?" Klaus' voice took on a dangerous edge, "And tell me, what exactly did sister dearest say?"

"Not much," she answered warily, "Why? Is there something that we need to know about?"

"No," he replied shortly, though she thought she detected a hint of relief in his tone as well. "Now this little chat has been fun and all, but I am a busy man and—"

"Wait! I—I do have a question for you."

"Ah yes, I thought you might."

Caroline ignored the smugness in his tone, feeling irritation seep into her shoulders. "You don't always have to be right," she mumbled, not caring if he heard her or not. "It doesn't always have to be a competition."

"Alpha male, remember?"

She sighed, suddenly feeling incredibly tired. She rubbed her neck, trying to ease some of the tension. "Tyler," she said hoarsely, "I need to know where he is."

"You've got to be kidding me," Klaus snapped, "I tell you that he's free to come home, and now you want me to _find _him for you?"

Caroline laid her head down on the table, pressing the coolness of the metal against her forehead. "I just thought...I wondered if maybe you had been keeping tabs on him. Anything that could give me an idea of where to start looking."

"I already told you that I hadn't wasted any of my time scouring the earth for him," Klaus responded coldly, "So, no, I do not know where lover boy is."

"Fine," she mulled over spilling the beans on Katherine for a second, but ultimately decided not to. "What about Stefan?" she asked instead, "You don't happen to know where he is, do you? Because he's kind of...disappeared on us."

"Disappeared?" Klaus sounded skeptical, "Perhaps he decided to leave his brother and Elena to play out their little love story without an unwanted third party, ever think of that?"

"Yes, but—"

"The easiest answer is usually the right one, love." he cut her off, "And now I really must be going. Good luck with finding Tyler. And I mean that sarcastically, of course."

_Click. _

* * *

Elena yawned, stretching as she turned onto her side and burrowed her face deeper into the fluffy pillows. She felt a fingertip trace her bare shoulder lightly, "Wake up, sleepyhead."

"No," she mumbled, "Go away."

A second later, the blanket covering her disappeared completely. She slowly dredged one eye open, staring down Damon pointedly. "If Jeremy walks in right now, he's going to be scarred for life."

"Jeremy is downstairs," Damon informed her, "And I think the kid has been scarred by plenty of other things, wouldn't you say?"

"Fair enough," Elena allowed, opening her other eye and raising herself on her elbows to look him over. "Why are you already dressed?"

"I thought we could all drive down and visit Bonnie," he answered off-handedly, "You said she's staying at her mother's for the summer, right?"

"Visit Bonnie?" she asked haltingly, a frown marring her features. "Why? Do you miss her already?"

Damon leaned back against the doorway, watching as she languidly swung her legs around to the other side of the bed and got to her feet. "Caroline called," he told her as she reached for the silk bathrobe resting in a heap on the floor. "She finally spoke to Klaus. Needless to say, he was less than helpful in divulging the whereabouts of either Stefan or Tyler."

"That's to be expected," Elena glanced over at Damon as she tied the robe around herself with a loose knot. "But what does this have to do with Bonnie?"

"We were thinking she could do a location spell."

Elena hesitated, "Have you talked to Jeremy about this?"

"No, I was waiting for you to come downstairs," Damon shrugged, "What's the big deal? He'll get a chance to see his girlfriend again, and as an added bonus, he gets to leave the house for a bit. We're eventually going to have to figure out something to tell everyone about his miraculous return from beyond the grave." He cocked his head thoughtfully, "Well, now that I think about it, I'm sure Bonnie could come up with a spell to—"

"No."

"What?"

"Jeremy doesn't want to bother Bonnie with all this stuff during the summer, alright?" Elena walked towards Damon and looped her arms around his neck, "I already brought up the idea to him the other night. He said that Bonnie has helped us enough—which is true—and that she deserves this time to herself."

Damon didn't look pleased, "When did he tell you that?"

"The night before last," Elena repeated, "When I went out to find Stefan. I ran into Jeremy at the cemetery, and he came with me down to the quarry. We talked about him being alive again, and I brought up the idea of Bonnie doing some sort of memory spell on the town. That's when he made it clear he was against the idea."

"Jeremy not being able to go out in public is just _one _of the problems on our short, albeit crucial list." Damon rested his hands on her waist, using his thumbs to stroke her sides gently. "To be honest, I'm not worried about Tyler coming home. He'll be fine. It's Stefan's disappearing act that concerns me. I think something happened to him."

"I know," Elena nodded in agreement, "Even if he decided to leave town, he would've _told _somebody. I'm worried about him, too, but I think we're going to have to figure this one out without Bonnie."

"But—"

"Hey," she said softly, tightening her grip around him, "We'll get to the bottom of this, I promise. We'll find him." She let her fingers drift upwards from his neck and into his hair, pulling him towards her for a kiss. As their lips met, a sense of urgency overtook them both and they stumbled into the adjoining bathroom, shedding clothes along the way. The robe once again slid past her shoulders and pooled at her feet, joined shortly by the remains of Damon's now-button-less shirt.

He chuckled as Elena switched the shower on and pulled him into the cascading stream. "Keep ripping apart my shirts like that, and I'm going to need to buy a whole new wardrobe."

"And the world loses another black shirt," Elena teased, limbly wrapping her legs around his waist and arching her neck as his fangs elongated. "Don't worry, I think the world will survive just fine."

* * *

Jeremy sat in the Salvatore library, his legs stretched out on the table as he flipped through a book laid out on his lap. He didn't look up when two sets of footsteps approached, but grunted in annoyance when someone swiped his feet off the table. "Hey," he grumbled, "I was comfortable."

"I'm sure you were," Damon smiled at him innocently, and then suddenly placed a laptop on the newly freed space in front of him. "Skype is already downloaded. Why don't you go ahead and call Bonnie?"

"W-what?" Jeremy put the book down, tensing as he looked between Damon and his sister with mild alarm. "I told you that she doesn't want to be bothered."

"You also told me that you would keep in touch with her over Skype," Elena reminded him, and he silently cursed her stellar memory. "Come on, Jer, I just want to thank her for bringing you back—"

"And we have a few other things to tell her that I'm sure she'd want to know," Damon added in, not seeing the necessity for false pretenses. "Go ahead," he pointed at the screen, "Tick, tock."

Jeremy didn't move, "Why don't you just text her?"

"I tried," Elena stood up to join Damon, and they both hovered over him suspiciously. "She never responded."

"There you go," he tried to get up, only for Damon to place a heavy hand over his shoulder to keep him in place. "She's busy, that's why she's not answering! How about you guys stop trying to contact her and let her have the peaceful summer that she _specifically_ asked for?"

"Alright, Gilbert," Damon said sternly, "Spill."

"What?"

Elena shook her head, "Don't play dumb. We know you're hiding something. What is it?"

"I..." Jeremy rubbed his neck, looking over towards the other side of the room. "I don't know what you want me to say."

Damon followed his line of sight, but didn't see anything there. "Is there a ghost here?" he demanded, "Who is it? Ric?"

"No," he replied quickly, "There's no one else here. It's just the three of us."

"Jer," Elena sat down next to him and covered his hands with her own. "You haven't lied this badly since Aunt Jenna found out you were smoking pot. Tell us what's going on; we want to help."

"I'm not the one who needs help!" Jeremy exclaimed, groaning a second later when Damon shot him a triumphant smile.

"See, now we're making progress," Damon said encouragingly, "So, I'm guessing the little witch got herself into some trouble and she asked you to keep your mouth shut about it, which you have, so kudos with that. But nothing ever stays secret for long in this town, and it's only a matter of time before we find out what it is. So you can either tell us now, or I'll _make _you tell us. What's it gonna be, Gilbert?"

Before Jeremy could respond, the front door suddenly opened and closed with a bang. Both vampires turned towards the sound, and Damon grimaced when he heard the tell-tale clicking of high heels against the wooden floor. "Now is not the time, Katherine," he called out loudly, scowling when she entered the library a few seconds later. "What do you want? Not liking your new digs?"

Katherine smiled smugly, "As much as you'd like me to be miserable, Damon, the truth is...well, the Mikealsen house has definitely met my expectations. In more ways than one, if you know what I mean."

Elena straightened, looking faintly interested, "What do you mean? Is Elijah back?"

"No, not Elijah," her doppelganger replied, turning to gesture to someone standing out in the living room, "I did find someone else, though."

"Who did you..." Damon trailed off in shock as his brother walked into the room, "_Stefan?" _

"Damon," he acknowledged, "Elena." His gaze lingered on Jeremy curiously, "Katherine told me that you were back. I didn't believe it till now, though." Something flickered in his expression, "Amazing what that witch could do, isn't it?"

Elena stood up slowly, her eyebrows drawn together as she studied Stefan. "We were worried about you," she said finally, "Where have you been?"

"Hold on a second," Damon interrupted, narrowing his eyes. "What do you mean by 'that witch'? I've never heard you refer to Bonnie by anything other than her name before. Leave the nicknames to me, brother. I'm better at it."

Silas folded his hands behind his back, smiling slightly. "As you wish, Damon. Though you won't be needing to think of nicknames for her anymore." He paused, considering, "Well, except for what you plan to write on her gravestone, of course."

Jeremy stood up abruptly, the book falling off his lap and landing on the ground with a loud thud.

"What?" Elena looked horrified, "Why would you say such a thing, Stefan?"

Silas ignored them both, his gaze fixed on Damon. "I was thinking '_loving daughter, friend, witch,' _had a nice ring to it, what do you think?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Damon hissed, looking over at Katherine furiously. "Where's Bonnie? Did you do something to her?"

Katherine raised an eyebrow, "Me? Do something to _her_? But I'm just a pathetic, weak human. What could I have _possibly _done to a Bennett witch?"

Elena blurred forward suddenly, fury etched across her face as she grabbed Katherine's throat and slammed her into the nearest wall. "Where's Bonnie?" she shouted, "What have you done with her?"

"S-Stefan," Katherine choked out, "Told me she was dead."

Damon's head snapped back around to look at his brother, "Is this true?"

"Silas wasn't in the trunk when I took his body out to the quarry. He came to me in the form of Elena...explained that the spell that turned him into stone had worn off, which meant that the witch who had cast the spell was dead."

"My god," Elena breathed, tears filling her eyes as she turned around to look at Jeremy. "You...you _knew_?"

Jeremy stared at the ground guiltily, "The magic to bring me back...it was too much. She asked me to keep it a secret from you guys for the summer. She wanted you to be happy after graduation, and not to worry about something that you had no control over."

"Bullshit," Damon swore, his eyes flashing with anger. "Where is she? Is she in here right now?"

Jeremy pointed silently to a corner of the room.

Damon stormed forward, staring at the wall determinately. "Listen here, you _moron_. Did you think we were just going to sit back and _l__et _you be dead?"

"She says—"

"I'm not done," he growled, ignoring Jeremy's offer of ghost-interpretation. "We're going to find some witches, and we're going to fix this. Got it?"

"She says there's nothing you can do, what's done is done."

Elena shakily walked over to the corner, as if in a trance. "Bonnie?" she whispered tearfully, "You're...no, you can't be dead. You just can't!"

"Here come the waterworks," Katherine rolled her eyes, holding her hand out to Stefan. "Come on, you said that you wanted them to know the truth before we left. Now they know, so we can leave."

Damon blurred ahead of them to the front door, blocking their exit. "And just where do you two think you're going?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Katherine crossed her arms, "We're going to find Lucy. You might remember her from that little Masquerade Ball where you two foolishly tried to kill me?"

He blinked, taken aback, "You're volunteering to go find this witch to help Bonnie?"

She snorted, "Of course not. I'm going to find her so that she can help me become a vampire again. And Stefan is coming with me. He was planning on leaving town anyway, isn't that right?"

Damon looked over at Stefan, who nodded seriously. "Yes, I want you and Elena to be very happy together. I wouldn't want to stick around and be in the way of that."

"But," he sputtered, "What about Silas? He's on the loose again!"

"I wouldn't worry about that," Stefan said dismissively, "Without Bonnie to help him reunite with his lover, he has no reason to stay in Mystic Falls. He's probably halfway across the world by now, hunting down a different witch to help him."

Damon grabbed his brother's arm angrily, "And you're not even going to stay to help us find a witch to bring Bonnie back?"

Stefan stepped out of his grasp, shrugging. "I'm helping Katherine, and you're helping Elena. Isn't this what you've always wanted?"

"That's not—"

"Everything is as it should be, brother." He reached out to clasp Damon's shoulder, "I hope you find what you're looking for." Damon didn't respond, watching stonily as Stefan and Katherine got into an expensive-looking car sitting in the driveway. Elena appeared at his shoulder as the car pulled into the street, driving away into the distance.

"Damon?"

"Don't worry," he slid an arm around her, pulling her into his embrace. "I know my brother. That sure as hell wasn't him."


	5. Dead and Gone

_a/n: fixed Silas' historical story at the end of the chapter, thank you to the person who pointed it out :)  
_

* * *

Damon stood silently, watching for the breaking point of the girl in front of him. But it never came. Tears had filled Caroline's eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them spill over.

She sat cross-legged on her sofa, staring blankly into space. She didn't move, didn't even blink. Damon opened his mouth to say something, but then thought better of it. He subtly moved closer to her, taking a seat on the far edge of the sofa. She didn't acknowledge his presence in any way and he was left to wonder if she even remembered that he was still in the room.

"Caroline," he said quietly, testing the waters. "Can you look at me?" She seemed to stiffen at the sound of his voice, her shoulders becoming tense. He leaned closer to her, relieved at the slight indication that she could hear him. "I know I'm the last person you'd want to be telling you this news," he went on, keeping his voice at barely a murmur. "I know you wish it was Stefan...hell, I bet you'd even prefer Klaus."

Her head whipped around then, and he immediately pulled away from her, startled at the intensity of her expression. Caroline stared at him for a long moment, and his gaze dropped down to her lap where he could see her hands begin to twist together anxiously.

He cautiously extended his arm towards her, his movements slow even by human standards. When she didn't flinch, he gently placed his hand on top of hers and applied a slight pressure with his fingertips. Her skin was cold, almost freezing. Damon waited, glancing back up to see if her expression had changed at all since he had first told her the news of Bonnie's death.

He had expected the disbelief, the grief, and maybe even a little vengeance and rage. What he hadn't expected was the numbness. Caroline had slipped into an almost catatonic state— the result of one bad news too many. But he was patient. She hadn't flipped the switch, that much was clear. So as long as _Caroline _was still in there somewhere, he could wait.

At long last, he felt a twitch beneath his hand. He looked down to see Caroline's fingers raise slightly. He began to lift his hand off hers, but paused when she tentatively intertwined their fingers. Damon raised his gaze to meet hers, and she finally blinked.

The tears she'd been holding back spilled onto her cheeks in tiny rivulets, and a small cry escaped her lips. "Oh god," she choked out with a gasp, "She's dead, she's really dead." She instantly withdrew her fingers from his hand, drawing her legs up to her chest and cocooning herself away from him. Damon sighed as she buried her face out of sight, her sobs echoing in the otherwise empty house.

"We want to bring her back," he told her again, because he wasn't entirely sure she had heard him the first time around. "But we need your help, okay? _Bonnie _needs your help, Caroline."

She raised her head slowly, her eyes red-rimmed and her face tear-stained. "How can I help?" she asked bleakly, "S-she's just one more person who's dead. Just another person who's gone."

Damon shifted closer to her, his voice fierce. "She brought Jeremy back from the dead. She did the impossible. We can do this for her, too." Their eyes locked and he went on forcefully, "We can do the impossible for her. We have to."

Caroline swallowed, lowering her legs to the ground and turning to face him hopefully. "You're right," she whispered, "We have to do this for her. She's done so much for us. She _can't _die now, not after everything we've been through!" Her voice became stronger, her eyes a little brighter. "And we've all done the impossible before—kept Elena alive after the sacrifice, found a cure for werewolf venom, a cure for vampirism—there has to be _something _we can do!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about," Damon flashed a grin at her and held out a hand to help her up. "Come on, I left Elena at the boarding house so she could have some time to talk to Bonnie's ghost...with Jeremy interpreting, of course."

"All right, just give me five," she gestured to herself with a roll of the eyes, "Obviously there's no way in hell I'm going out in public looking like this."

"Of course not," Damon wandered towards the liquor cabinet as she blurred upstairs, "Hey, your mom won't mind if I steal some of this bourbon, will she?"

"As long as you replace whatever you take," Caroline yelled back, and he heard the shower go on a second later. He tuned out the sounds of Taylor Swift emanating from upstairs, and focused his attention on the bottle in his hand. He had just finished examining it and pouring himself out a glass, when there was a sudden whirl of wind behind him, accompanied by the swirling scent of vanilla.

"That was fast," he commented, tossing back the contents of the glass and turning around to give Caroline the once-over. "You never got ready this fast when we were dating."

"Very funny," she replied distractedly as she rummaged through her large handbag for her keys. "You driving?"

He nodded, leading the way out of the house and down to the driveway. He opened the passenger door for her, leaning against the edge and eying her critically. "How are you feeling?"

She paused before getting in, and he thought she would brush off his question dismissively. To his surprise, however, she appeared to be mulling the question over. "Better," she answered finally, sliding into her seat. She waited until he had gotten behind the wheel before continuing. "I know how much you hate tears, Damon. So, I guess I should thank you for..." her lips twitched, "Not being a total jerk."

Damon glanced over at her, and their gazes met for a split second. "Yeah, well," he cleared his throat, "Dealing with crying women has always been Stefan's specialty, not mine."

"Yeah," she agreed, her eyes dancing with amusement, "I guess you'll just have to take on the 'bearer of bad news' role until we find Stefan again."

He tensed, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.

Her smile faded, "Damon?"

"Yeah, about Stefan...there's something you should know..."

* * *

Elena and Jeremy jumped as the door swung open, bouncing violently off the wall. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU THINK SILAS IS IMPERSONATING STEFAN?"

"Caroline," Jeremy interjected hastily when he saw the annoyed look on Damon's face. "You're finally here...do you...er, does she know?" He directed this last question towards Damon, who nodded curtly in affirmation. "Good," Jeremy went on, obviously relieved. "Well, Bonnie is here," he pointed vaguely behind him, "She's been waiting to talk to you." Then he fumbled over his words, clearly realizing the mistake. "I mean, she's been wanting to see you."

Caroline glared, crossing her arms and flicking her gaze between the three people currently standing in the room, as if deciding which of them would be on the receiving end of her wrath first. After a few moments, she abruptly closed her eyes and sucked in a deep (albeit unnecessary) breath of air.

"Counting to ten in her head," Elena murmured to Damon and Jeremy, both of whom looked baffled. "It's one of her stress-reducing exercises. She used to do it a lot during cheerleading practices."

"Okay," Caroline eventually said, re-opening her eyes and relaxing her stance into a significantly calmer demeanor. "First things first. Where's Bonnie?"

"Right here," Jeremy took her arm and led her over to the armchair in the corner of the room. "She's sitting here. What would you like to say to her?"

Damon discreetly gestured to Elena, indicating for her to follow him into the library. She trailed in behind him after a few seconds, looking confused. "What's up?" she asked curiously as he shut the door behind them. "How'd she take the news?"

"I just thought we could give them some privacy," Damon explained in response to her unasked question. Then he hesitated, choosing his words carefully, "Well, I suppose she took the news as well as could be expected given the present circumstances."

Elena studied his expression warily, "What do you mean?"

"I'm worried about her," he admitted, running a hand through his hair. "Tyler, Klaus, Stefan, Matt, now Bonnie...these people were her support system, Elena. She really has no one left to turn to."

"She has m—"

"No," Damon interrupted, "Don't say she has _you_."

Elena's mouth dropped open in surprise, and she shot him an offended look. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she snapped defensively, "Caroline is one of my oldest friends, of course she can count on me!"

He raised an eyebrow at her indignation. "The two of you have been falling apart ever since you became a vampire, maybe even before that. You can pretend you didn't see it happening, you can blame it on your differences over the sire bond, and you can even blame it on the things you said and did when your switch was flipped. But when it comes down to it, you have to admit—when was the last time either of you thought of each other as best friends?"

"Fine," Elena flung out her arms in exasperation, "What do you want me to do? Apologize for trying to kill her? Apologize for dropping her at the cheerleading competition? Apologize for every horrible thing I said to her when my humanity was off? Fine, I can do all those things! But—"

"But it doesn't change the way things are now," Damon cut off her tirade, "I know you think I don't understand, but I do. Stefan is the one who stood by her through her transition, even when I wanted to kill her. He's the one that has shaped her into the person she is now. She sees him differently than you ever did. You might have been in love with him, but she views him as her mentor, her savior. I can understand why her loyalty went to him, instead of to you." He grimaced, "And now she's about one step away from flipping her own switch, and we _really _don't have the time for that."

"Okay," Elena replied guardedly, noting the unusual concern in his voice. "I get it, trust me, I do. But what do you want me to do about it? We don't know where Tyler is, Matt could very well be halfway across the world by now, Klaus is in New Orleans, Stefan is god knows where, and we're already trying to figure out a way to deal with the Bonnie situation. What more can we do?"

"I've been thinking," Damon started, "About why Silas is so eager to help Katherine become a vampire again." He paused, "Then I realized, it isn't that he wants to help her, exactly. He just wants to find the witch." He looked over at Elena meaningfully, "Lucy. As in, Bonnie's distant cousin. As in..."

"A Bennett witch," Elena realized, her eyes widening at the implication. "Silas is still on the hunt for someone to reunite him with the woman he loved."

"Gold star for my girl," Damon swiftly pressed a kiss to her temple, at the same time drawing her close enough so that he could whisper in her ear and not be overheard by anyone in the next room. "I think we need to go after them. But at the same time we need to find someone to help Bonnie."

Elena glanced up at him, frowning as she considered his words. "Agreed," she said slowly, "What were you thinking?"

"You and I should go after Katherine. We need to convince her that her traveling companion isn't who he says he is." Damon began pacing back and forth as he continued, "And if I know her at all—which, okay, I guess I don't really know her that well—but I know that she cares about Stefan. She'll want to get him back. Maybe she can even get the truth out of Silas."

"This is all based on a theory," Elena reminded him, "We don't know for sure that Silas has taken over Stefan's body. Don't we need to be sure before we try to convince Katherine? I mean, it sounds pretty far-fetched, even to me. I know that he was acting weird when he dropped by earlier, but wouldn't _Katherine _have been able to tell the difference between the real-Stefan and an imposter?"

"Katherine is human now," Damon responded thoughtfully, "And she's only concerned with becoming a vampire again. Maybe she was too oblivious to how he was acting, to realize that it wasn't really him." He suddenly looked at Elena sharply, "You believe me, don't you? That it wasn't Stefan?"

She nodded quickly, "Yes, of course I do. I trust that you know your brother better than anyone. If you say that it wasn't really him, then we owe it to Stefan to find out what happened to him."

"So, it's settled then. We'll have to do some old fashioned research to find out Lucy's last known address, since we can't do a locator spell right now. But if Katherine found a way to track her down, then so can we."

Elena tilted her head, "And while we're doing that...you want Caroline to, what, exactly?"

Damon didn't answer immediately. "Klaus left town to deal with some witches, right?"

"Not Bennett witches," she pointed out. "The ones in New Orleans probably have no idea who Bonnie even is. They have no reason to help us or to even get involved."

He shrugged, "Klaus can be convincing. And I'm sure if Caroline asks nicely—"

"I'm not sure how she's going to feel about asking Klaus for another favor," Elena interrupted, "Didn't she say the two of them got into it over the phone?"

He smiled grimly, "I know her. She'll do whatever it takes to bring Bonnie back. Even if she has to make a deal with the devil himself." Damon stepped closer to Elena and cupped her face gently. "Hey," he said softly, "Stop looking so worried. If Klaus' witches refuse to help, then we'll still have Lucy. I just don't want to take any chances by following only one lead."

Elena raised her eyebrows, impressed. "Well, look at you, being all rational and level-headed." She wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled up at him, "I think I like this new you."

"You _love_ this new me," he corrected, his lips lifting in a half grin as she brushed a light kiss against his cheek. Her lips trailed down to his neck, and he closed his eyes blissfully. "Have I mentioned lately how much I'm in love with you?"

"I love the new you, the old you, all of you," Elena mumbled in response, her lips parting as his mouth slanted over hers, giving her a long, lingering kiss. Her expression was dazed when he eventually pulled away, and it took her several moments to gather her bearings. "Shall we run the plan past the others?" she asked, her voice coming out somewhat breathlessly. "It'll probably take some convincing."

He took a second to control the directions of his thoughts away from what he wanted to do to Elena, back to the more important situation at hand. Before she could walk away, however, he grabbed her wrist and hauled her back towards him so that she slammed into the hard contours of his body. "We haven't christened this room yet," he breathed into her ear, smirking in satisfaction when she shivered involuntarily. He kept her close, his fingertips ghosting over her bare arms. "When this is all over, I'm going to have you right here on this table...then against that bookshelf over there...and then on this—"

Elena shoved him away, her cheeks flushing irresistibly. "Shh," she hissed, even though he had kept his voice low enough for even enhanced vampire hearing. "Come on," she said impatiently, even as her lips threatened to tug upwards. "Let's go tell them what we've come up with."

She opened the library door, but stopped short when she saw Caroline and Jeremy both standing close by. "We heard the whole plan," Caroline told her before she could speak, "And you don't have to worry. I'll do it."

Damon moved forward, "You'll go down to New Orleans? You'll try to convince Klaus and his witches to help bring Bonnie back?"

"Me and Bonnie will go with her," Jeremy put in, "So she won't be alone. Besides, as a ghost, Bonnie will be able to see and hear things that we can't."

"That's a great idea, Jer," Elena turned to look at Caroline, "You'll keep him safe?"

"Of course," their eyes met briefly, the old threads of friendship sputtering back to life. Caroline's gaze grew serious, "With my life."

"Well, hopefully it doesn't come to that," Damon interrupted. "Klaus will protect you from the witches...and if nothing else, at least Elijah is down there. He'll make sure nothing happens to you two."

Elena shot him a surprised look, "I thought you hated Elijah."

"But you don't."

"No, I don't," she agreed, "What does that have to do with anything?"

He shrugged, "Nothing at all." Before she could press the issue, he turned away from her with a hint of a smile. "Now, who's ready for a road trip?"


	6. Stack the Odds

**A/N: **so I re-uploaded chapter 5 since I was told many people didn't get the email alert for it. and now here's the new chapter! let the road trip commence ;)

* * *

"I just have a hard time understanding why Lucy would be in Salem," Damon was saying for the umpteenth time. "Are you sure Jeremy found the right location?"

"Quit complaining," Elena said lazily as she leant back against her seat, smiling as the sun's rays warmed her skin. "I offered to drive."

"Yeah, I think once is quite enough," he muttered under his breath, clearly still nursing some wounds from when her no-humanity-self had hijacked his car with Rebekah.

She glanced over at him, trying to hide her amusement. "I already apologized for that."

"And I forgave you," he answered diplomatically, "But that little stunt you pulled has forced me to revoke your car privileges for the foreseeable future."

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes, "As if you'd let anyone drive your car anyway."

"So back to this Salem thing—"

"The Bennett witches used to live in Salem," Elena reminded him, "But they left during the witch trials. Lucy must've gone back for a reason…maybe she thought it was the last place anyone would look."

"If Jeremy could track her down, then I'm not so sure how well hidden she was in the first place."

"Be nice," Elena chastised, "It couldn't hurt to be the slightest bit optimistic in the face of overwhelming odds."

"Okay, you're right," he allowed, "I'll just keep my realistic opinions to myself."

"That would be greatly appreciated," she teased, leaning sideways in her seat so that she could brush her lips against his cheek. "When are we going to stop at a hotel?"

Damon fiddled with the GPS for a second, frowning. "Well, we've been driving for three hours. This says it's another eight hours till we get to Massachusetts."

Elena shifted in her seat, trying to ignore the ache in her gums. Some days were better than others, but so far her cravings seemed to be directly correlated to her stress levels.

And between Katherine's humanity, Stefan's disappearance, Bonnie's death—not to mention Jeremy being unable to go out in public and Caroline on the way to beg Klaus for his help—yeah, Elena was pretty stressed.

"The blood bags are in the cooler," Damon said, correctly interpreting her mood swing. "Do you want me to pull over?"

"Not yet," she shook her head, "I had blood this morning when I woke up. I need to learn how to control the urges better. I mean, you're not thirsty, are you?"

"A vampire is always thirsty," he corrected her, "It's just a matter of when you choose to give into that thirst."

Elena chewed on the inside of her lip, determined to keep her fangs from elongating. "But you never do, not really."

"That's because I drink a lot." He briefly took his eyes off the road to clarify, "Alcohol. It numbs the urges a bit." He reached between them to grab his flask and handed it to Elena. "Here, drink some of this. We'll be at the Pennsylvania border in two hours. We can stop there for the night."

"Okay," she hesitantly put the flask to her lips and tipped her head back to take a swig of the potent liquid. She made a face as it burned her throat. "Maybe I should mix it with some blood?"

"No," Damon said firmly, "Drink that only. You can handle the cravings for two hours, Elena. Just focus on something else, anything else."

"Fine," she grumbled, putting the flask down and reaching for her cell phone. "I'm gonna see how Jeremy is doing."

* * *

"Yeah, we're in North Carolina now," Jeremy replied, leaning forward from the backseat so that he could peer at the GPS. "Around Charlotte, I think. We won't be in NOLA for, like, another 12 hours."

"Tell her we're going to stop in Atlanta for the night," Caroline called from the driver's seat, "Because I get cranky when I'm stuck in a car for too long." She tilted her head, her enhanced hearing picking up on the sound of Elena's laughter. Caroline smiled slightly. It had been so long since she'd heard her friend actually sound happy.

"I think my sister's bored," Jeremy informed her once he'd hung up the phone, "She kept asking me a million questions."

"She's with Damon," Caroline waved her hand dismissively, "I'm sure they can find _something _to do in a car to occupy themselves with." Before Jeremy could complain about her statement, she went on with her rant. "I mean, _I'm _the one who should be bored! I'm sitting all alone up here in the front while you and your ghost girlfriend are up to god knows what in the back seat!"

Jeremy eyed her as though she'd gone crazy. "You know I can't touch her, right?"

"Huh?"

"I can _see _ghosts," he emphasized, "I can't physically _touch _them. They're not corporeal."

"Oh," she frowned, "Well, that doesn't change anything." She met his gaze in the rearview mirror indignantly, "At least you have someone to talk to back there!"

"Okay, I think you don't get how this whole ghost thing actually works," Jeremy suddenly clambered into the passenger seat, leaving Caroline to gape at him in surprise. "What?"

"How'd you do that?" she sputtered, "I didn't think my car was that big! Okay, even I have trouble maneuvering my way within these confines. Like one time, me and Tyler were—"

"TMI," Jeremy practically screeched, and she bit her lip to stifle her laughter. He glared at her, and she quickly averted her eyes back to the road so that he couldn't read the amusement in her expression. "To answer your question," he grunted a second later, "Hunters are more limber than your average human, or did you forget?"

"Oh, right," she realized, turning around to look at him once again. "Well, won't Bonnie be by herself back there now? I thought that was the whole reason you wanted to sit in the backseat in the first place."

"Bonnie's not here right now," he told her, and hastily held up a hand to stem her questions when she opened her mouth. "Jeez, will you let me explain!?" Caroline obediently pretended to zipper her mouth closed, and gestured for him to continue. "I can only see ghosts when I'm actively thinking about them, and if they want to make contact. The only other way is if some other magic lets them appear in our realm, but that's pretty powerful stuff."

"So it has to work both ways," Caroline said slowly, her brow wrinkling as she attempted to understand the mechanics of it all. "That's why you're not seeing ghosts everywhere you look."

"Right. They're up to their own thing over there on the other side. Usually they just want to watch over their loved ones in peace; see what they're up to."

Caroline's expression sobered, "That sounds...lonely."

"Yeah," Jeremy glanced back at her and they shared a meaningful look, "It is."

"We need to get her out of there," she said with renewed resolve, inadvertently pressing harder on the gas pedal. "She doesn't deserve this."

"She has her Grams," Jeremy stared ahead unseeingly, "And they found each other, which is good. A lot of the time, the ghosts are up there by themselves. They have nobody to turn to. Nobody to share their pain with."

"That's..." her voice was choked and she had to swallow hard before speaking again. "That's awful."

"And everyone on the other side is still there because they feel like they have unfinished business," he went on quickly, perhaps wanting Caroline to focus on something else. "Revenge is usually a big reason."

"Like Kol."

"Sure."

Caroline frowned, "But what about Lexi? She doesn't want revenge on anyone. She seemed pretty down to earth when she came to see Stefan."

"It's not always about revenge. Sometimes they feel like they have to make penance for their crimes as a human...and other times, they just want a chance to watch over the people they left behind; see them grow up, become who they were meant to be."

And even though he didn't voice it, she knew they were both thinking of Alaric.

* * *

Katherine swiped a hand over her forehead, reeling in disgust at the sweat now dripping down her arm. "How do humans do it?" she gritted her teeth, yanking down the sun visor and peering at her reflection in faint horror. "Look at my hair! It's all frizzy and gross and...Stefan, are you even listening to me!?"

Silas glanced over at her with a bored expression. Her incessant whining was getting on his last nerve. If he didn't need to keep her around for information, then she would've long since been dead. "It's the humidity," he offered dully as they passed a sign that proclaimed 'Hartford, Connecticut'. "Your body is just acclimating to the weather changes, as would any human's."

She clenched her hands into fists, digging her nails into her palms tightly enough to draw blood. Silas whipped his head around at the scent, but she didn't notice. "Ugh, I hate this! I'm going to kill Elena for doing this to me, mark my words. That little bitch is going to get what she deserves!"

"We'll be in Salem in a couple hours," he said roughly, focusing on driving and not on the heady scent of blood filling the car. "I'll book you a session at a luxury spa once we get there, all right?"

Katherine frowned, scrunching her hair up in a messy bun and holding it away from her neck. It was only late May, and the heat was already unbearable. She shuddered to think of making it through the rest of the summer as a human. "I thought you wanted to find Lucy as soon as possible. Will we have time to stop at a spa?"

"I'll track her down in the meantime," Silas responded casually, "It'll take some time to find out where exactly she's been staying."

She nodded absently, closing her eyes and turning up the AC in the car. "You must be glad to leave Mystic Falls behind," she murmured sleepily, "I don't know why it took you so long."

"I guess I just needed a push in the right direction."

Katherine's eyes popped open. "And I was that reason?" she asked flirtatiously, twisting in her seat to slide her hand down Stefan's arm. "You know, we could always stop in a hotel somewhere...just think about it, this is probably your one and only chance to have me as a human..."

Silas glanced down at her disinterestedly. "I meant Lexi," he told her, "It was Lexi who convinced me to leave. You were just..." he shrugged, "A convenient excuse."

She immediately pulled her hand away, recoiling as though she'd been slapped. "What did you just say to me?"

He didn't need to look at her to scrutinize her expression. He'd already had ample time to enter her mind, to see her memories—her weaknesses. "Don't act so surprised, Katherine. You've already had your fun pitting me against my brother for the better part of a century. Now that you've moved on to Elijah, I don't owe you anything."

"But—"

"We're not friends," Silas went on, barely listening to her. "We're not lovers, and we're certainly not partners in crime. We have a common goal, and that is the only reason fate has brought us together at this point in time. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Stefan?" Katherine was staring at him now, her eyes narrowed. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

He didn't care. Keeping up the charade of the good guy with the misguided moral compass was wearing thin. "You don't get it, do you?" Silas said to her, "I'm free." He rolled down the windows and stepped on the gas pedal, revving the engine up to almost 100. Katherine gave a small gasp as she clutched onto her seat, but he ignored her. "You're right, you know. Leaving Mystic Falls was the best decision I ever made. Freeing myself of Damon, Elena, and every other burden I was forced to carry on my shoulders. I'm done with it now, and I'm never turning back."

Katherine swallowed, biting back the words bubbling at her lips. Despite the heat she'd been complaining about earlier, she suddenly felt a chill. Her mouth felt too dry, her ears were ringing, and she could feel blood rushing to her extremities. As she looked back into the mirror on the sun visor, she saw her skin become paler, her pupils becoming dilated.

"Say it out loud," he said unexpectedly, "Whatever you're thinking. You can't hide it from me."

If she'd been unsure before, his words were the final confirmation she needed. Katherine's heart beat wildly in her chest as she slowly turned to face him, "Silas."


	7. The Allure of Darkness

**A/N: **since the gang is split into 3 groups for right now, current chapters will have three different sections so we can follow all their journeys at the same time. enjoy and thank you as always for your reviews!

* * *

Katherine stared sullenly into the side mirror as the 'Entering Boston' sign grew smaller and smaller into the distance. "What happened to stopping at a luxury spa?" she asked stiffly, not turning to face the man beside her. It was like he was mocking her by wearing Stefan's skin—looking exactly like him, like someone she had trusted. If only she'd been a vampire, she would've been able to tell the difference sooner, if only she'd been paying attention instead of consumed with finding a cure to her sudden mortality, if only...

"Stopping?" Silas gave a short, cruel laugh. "You mean so that you can attempt to run away or make a phone call? Yeah, I don't think so." Then he held out his hand, making his intentions clear. "Speaking of which."

She glanced down, her lips curling with distaste, "No. I'm not giving you my phone."

"I wasn't under the impression that you had a choice," he replied easily, "Hand it over, dear _Katerina_."

Katherine tensed, her body going cold. "Don't call me that."

He treated her to a broad smile, and she found herself cursing him again for looking like Stefan. Now that she was paying attention, she could see the lack of warmth in his eyes; the lack of recognition that sparked whenever she and Stefan were alone together, the lack of the connection they had shared from their past. Silas' eyes were dead, probably mirroring his utter lack of a soul.

"Because I'm not Elijah?" Silas smirked, "Your precious Elijah...I spoke to him, you know. He acts like he's superior to you lot, but he was fooled just the same. He handed the cure over to what he assumed was his contrite sister, Rebekah. That's his downfall, of course. The reason that he will never be great and powerful, the reason why people don't fear him like they should."

She gritted her teeth, "Because he cares for his family?"

Silas glanced over at her, "Sore subject, I presume." Katherine crossed her arms, but didn't respond. "He left you for his family," Silas said deliberately, clearly enjoying digging the knife in deeper. "Chose them over you, the woman he supposedly loved. I can't imagine how that must feel." After studying her for a second, he abruptly turned back around to face the road. "Of course, you have a lot in common with Qetsiyah," he added offhandedly, "Woman scorned and all that."

Katherine glared, "What do you want with me? I'm human. I can't do anything to help you reunite with your stupid lover, or whatever it is that you're planning now. And where is Stefan? The real one. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM?"

"Calm yourself. He isn't dead, if that's what you mean. And the plan hasn't changed."

"If he isn't dead, then where is he?" she demanded hotly, to which he only shrugged his shoulders. "If you don't tell me, I'll—"

"You'll what?" he challenged, "You have nothing to bargain with, Katherine." He glanced at her reprovingly, "And you're asking all the wrong questions."

She seethed in her seat, her brow furrowed as she thought back to what he had said. _The plan hasn't changed. _"But it has to change," she said out loud, "The plan, I mean. The cure is gone."

"A minor setback."

Katherine looked at him incredulously, "There is only one cure, Silas. Without it, you can't die." As the words came out of her mouth, her eyes widened in sudden realization. "Wait, is there more than one? Did Qetsiyah create two?"

"It was I who created it," Silas corrected her, "I was the more powerful warlock, between the two of us. She merely helped me cast the spell." He paused, "And to answer your question: no, there is not another secret, hidden cure somewhere. There was only the one."

"Then, what? What's your grand master plan?"

Silas held out his hand again, "Phone, Katherine."

She blew out an exasperated breath, but nonetheless reached into her purse and dug it out. "Fine, here," she snapped, dropping it into the palm of his hand. "Now will you tell me?"

He examined it for a second before crushing it in his fist and tossing the pieces out the window. "Your pretty little head is just swimming with useful information," he told her, "It would be advantageous for me to keep you around, vampire or not." They passed the sign for Salem, and Silas eased up on the gas pedal. "Without you, how else would I have known that there was another Bennett descendent nearby?"

"Lucy isn't as powerful as Bonnie was," Katherine muttered petulantly, "She won't be able to help you. And once she hears that Bonnie is dead, she definitely won't want anything to do with you."

"Bonnie was weak when I first met her," Silas suddenly spat, "It was I who made her powerful, it was I who drove her to reach her full potential. If Shane hadn't taught her Expression, then she—"

"Wouldn't be dead," Katherine snarled, "It doesn't matter how you spin it. If she hadn't gotten mixed up in your boneheaded scheme, then she'd still be alive."

"If she hadn't tried to save Jeremy from the Other Side—where he was because of you, incidentally—then she'd still be alive," Silas retorted, "But no matter. Lucy is a Bennett witch. She's still a descendant of Qetsiyah. Ergo, she can be powerful too. All she needs is a little nudge in the right direction."

Katherine was silent for a few minutes, picking apart the new strands of information she'd been given and rearranging the puzzle pieces in her head. "What's the point of convincing Lucy to lower the veil to the Other Side if you can't die?"

"Alright so I lied," Silas conceded, "The plan has changed a little. But the idea is still the same."

She could feel her frustration mount, "What are you talking about?"

"Even if Lucy can undo what was done to you, there is no way of getting the cure back," Silas told her as they slowly pulled to a stop on a side street across from a hotel. "But I'm still a warlock and she's still a witch."

Katherine stared at him, realization making her head spin. "You want to create another cure for immortality," she whispered, "And you want her to help you."

"That's right," Silas replied cheerfully as he got out of the car. When she didn't make a move to join him, he pointedly came over to the passenger side and pulled open the door. "I said that you would be useful to me," he said in a low voice, "Not that you were irreplaceable. Now get out of the car and don't make a scene. If you try running, asking for help, or doing anything else to thwart my plans, I will kill you. Are we clear?"

She clenched her jaw, but begrudgingly swung her legs out of the seat and stumbled out into the fresh breeze. "Fine," she hissed, because he was waiting for an answer. "No running."

"Good," he held out his arm to her, "While we are here, you will play your part convincingly. And, Katherine?" They were just about to cross the threshold into the hotel when he stopped her, looking at her intently. "What we were discussing before, about Elijah. It isn't his care for his family that is his downfall." She frowned in confusion at the change in subject, but Silas went on, "It's his trust."

"Trust?" Katherine echoed, "Elijah doesn't—"

"He trusts too quickly, too easily. He wants to believe the best in people; he wants to believe the people he cares for are inherently good." Silas stepped closer to her, and she instinctively shivered as his lips brushed past her cheek. "I'm not him. Don't try to play me, Katherine. Don't forget, I can get into your head, I can see everything. Got it?"

"Yes," she swallowed as he pulled away, "Got it."

* * *

Caroline was staring at the ceiling of her hotel room. It was 6AM, and sunlight had been streaming past her curtains for the past 30 minutes. She knew she should probably get up, but she couldn't bring herself to move. What if Klaus didn't want to help them? He hadn't exactly been happy with her the last time they'd spoken on the phone. In fact, he'd been downright rude.

Her lips turned down at the corners as she shuffled onto her side, burying her face into the pillow. She wondered how Matt was getting along with only Rebekah to keep him company. That certainly took a lot of trust—putting your human life into the hands of someone who had almost killed you—and that 'someone' being not only a vampire, but an Original at that.

Caroline shifted, vague memories flickering through her mind at lightning speed. _"There's a whole world out there waiting for you, great cities and art and music, genuine beauty..." _But it wasn't just her, it was all of them—Matt, Elena, Bonnie, Tyler—they had all grown up in Mystic Falls, never daring to dream big. They'd all had their predictable human lives laid out before them, forever tethered to small town life. _"I'll take you. Wherever you want. Rome. Paris. Tokyo?"_

_"_Must be nice," she mumbled, the memory slipping out of her grasp, back into oblivion where it belonged. _"__Must be really nice to just snap your fingers and get whatever you want_."

Without warning, her chest tightened and she hastily tried to think of something else—anything else, really—but an errant tear still slid past her eyelid and down her cheek, cooling her heated skin. She angrily wiped it away. What was wrong with her? Was she actually _jealous _of Matt for jumping at the opportunity to do something that he wanted? She pressed her lips together, already disgusted at herself for even allowing the notion to cross her mind.

So what if Matt was traveling the world with Rebekah? After everything he'd been through, he'd come out on the other side with his head held high; human and stronger than the rest of them combined. He deserved a little happiness, even if it was with...Rebekah. Another whisper of a memory floated through her mind, and she groaned, fighting the urge to scream into her pillow. _"So you've never felt the attraction that comes when someone who's capable of doing terrible things for some reason cares only about you?" _

She irately flipped onto her other side, scrunching the covers into her hands and throwing them over her face. That had to explain why Matt had chosen to go with Rebekah. It was an adrenaline rush—someone over a thousand years old holding a torch for you, wanting to protect you, caring only for you..._not _she knew anything about that. She was only guessing, really.

A heavy knock sounded at the door, interrupting the snarky devil on her shoulder making claims about denial and Egypt. "Caroline?" Jeremy called loudly, "You ready to go?"

With a groan, she tossed the covers onto the floor and shuffled her way to the door. "Come in," she said grumpily to a surprised looking Jeremy, "I'll be ready in a few."

"Vampire speed," he nodded, eying the mess in the room and raising an eyebrow, "Right." When she didn't respond, he held a cup out to her. "Here, I went to the cafe down the street and got us coffee."

"Thanks," she tried to smile, putting it on the desk without taking a sip. "So, I'm just gonna shower," she told him, grabbing some clothes out of her bag without paying attention to what they were. "Then we can get out of here. It's a six hour drive from Atlanta to New Orleans, so we'll be there by early afternoon."

"I'll drive today," Jeremy said, grabbing her wrist as she walked past him. "What's wrong?"

"What?" she asked, startled. "Nothing's wrong." She put on her best bubbly smile, "I'm always a little grouchy in the morning. Don't worry, it'll wear off after I add a blood bag to that coffee you got me."

"You've been crying," he stated, not letting go of her wrist. "So I think this is about a little more than early morning blood cravings. Talk to me, Caroline. It's just the two of us out here, who else do you have?"

"It's...it's nothing, okay?" Caroline pulled away, letting her hair swing forward to hide her expression. "I was just thinking about what's going to happen if Klaus and his witches refuse to help us, and what that might mean for Bonnie."

Jeremy took a seat on the edge of the bed, looking thoughtful. "You can't think like that," he said quietly, "We have to be strong. For Bonnie's sake."

She took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. "For Bonnie," she murmured to herself, almost like a mantra. Then she nodded, squaring her shoulders. "You're right," she told him, "We're going to make this happen for Bonnie, no matter what it takes." She picked up her coffee cup and raised it in his direction, "To Bonnie."

"To Bonnie."

* * *

Elena opened her eyes, glancing around the unfamiliar surroundings for a minute before remembering that she and Damon had stopped for the night in Pennsylvania. He had booked them an extravagant hotel room, and then had wasted no time in christening every surface of it. She smiled a little as she arched her back, still feeling deliciously satisfied after last night. Come to think of it, she didn't know when the two of them had actually fallen asleep—and on top of the bed, too. That was a surprise.

Her leg was already thrown lazily over Damon's body, her knee nudging against his hip to bring him closer. All she had to do was raise herself off the bed and shift a few inches to the right until she was straddling his waist, her long hair tickling the bare skin on his chest. "Someone's awake," he mumbled, keeping his eyes closed but smiling slightly as her hands danced along his arms. "I thought I tired you out last night."

"You did," she knelt forward, brushing her lips against his until he drowsily responded. Her lips parted as he deepened the kiss, his hands moving up her legs to rest on her hips, holding her in place. She sighed appreciatively when he shifted her closer, entering her in one swift move. She closed her eyes, her head falling back as she steadied herself by placing a hand on his chest and riding back and forth at a languid pace.

It was always like this with them in the mornings; slow, unhurried. It was what they both needed after the insatiable nights, where they just couldn't seem to get enough of each other. She didn't know if it was a vampire thing or a _them _thing. "You're thinking too much," Damon murmured, interrupting her thoughts. His fingers trailed upwards to her cheek, "Look at me."

When she did, he flipped them over and she let out a startled gasp as he picked up the pace, driving into her at just the right angle. She threw her head back as her fangs elongated, her vampiric side fighting for dominance. "Go ahead," he grunted into her shoulder, and she felt his own fangs scrape her neck at the same time that she bit into him. Supernatural instincts took over as they became a mere blur, each of them striving to find their release.

...

"I just finished talking to Caroline and Jeremy," Elena said as she hung up the phone. "They hit the road early this morning, so they're about an hour away from New Orleans."

Damon nodded, glancing down at the GPS. "We're just crossing into Connecticut now, so it looks like we'll be in Salem in about three hours. Two and a half if I have anything to say about it." Even as he spoke, the speedometer creeped upwards. "Who's been texting you?"

"It's Jeremy," she frowned, "He couldn't say it over the phone because Caroline would overhear, but he says that he's worried about her. She hasn't been acting like herself."

"Can you blame her? She's been through a lot," Damon shrugged, "She's been holding up pretty well, I'd say."

Elena smiled, reaching over to squeeze his arm. "You have a lot of respect for her, don't you?"

"Maybe Stefan is rubbing off on me," he answered wryly, to which she grinned. "But no," he went on, his expression becoming serious. "I've seen how far she's come, that's all. I don't want her to lose that, just because everyone's either dead or..."

"Missing," Elena breathed, her mouth dropping open as the car came to a screeching halt. A figure stumbled out into the middle of the highway, directly in front of their car. "Is that...but it can't possibly be..."

Damon killed the engine and they both stared in disbelief as the person collapsed against the hood of the car. His clothes were tattered, his tanned skin streaked with dirt, and his once perfectly groomed spiky black hair was overgrown, drooping across his forehead. Elena tore off her seatbelt, rushing out of the car, "TYLER!"


	8. Yellow Brick Road

**a/n: **I thoroughly enjoyed writing this chapter, particularly the second half! enjoy ;)

* * *

"He still hasn't woken up?" Damon glanced into the rearview mirror, where he met Elena's worried gaze from the backseat. It had been nearly three hours since Tyler had collapsed in front of their car—and now he was slouched in the backseat, his head resting against the window. He still hadn't returned to consciousness, and therefore hadn't been able to answer any of their mounting questions.

"Are you sure we shouldn't call Caroline?" Elena asked again, her eyes pleading. "She'll want to know that we found him."

"_We _didn't find him," he corrected, making the annoyance in his tone apparent. "And you can call Caroline when there's something to tell her. Right now we know nothing. If you call her, she'll have a million questions. And if you haven't yet noticed, we don't exactly have any answers."

"But what are we going to do with him?" Her tone was hushed as they crossed the border into Salem, "Are we going to bring him with us?"

Damon scowled. The last thing their road trip needed was a complication, and Tyler was just that. "Bring him where?"

"To find…" she faltered, "I mean, when we go looking for Silas and Katherine?"

"We're here to find Lucy," Damon responded evenly, keeping his eyes peeled as they entered into the main area of the town. "Look," he said in an undertone as they passed by a hotel, "That's the car Silas was driving when he stopped by the house a couple days ago." He kept driving for another couple blocks before pulling around the corner and parking under a large tree. "I don't want Silas to know we're here," he explained to Elena as he got out of the car, "Come on. We'll have to walk back."

She opened the back door but didn't get out. "What about Tyler? We can't just leave him in the car like this."

"Why not?" Damon retorted, "He's not going anywhere. Let him sleep it off."

"No," she insisted, "He's already lost and confused…god knows where he's been and how he found us. We can't leave him alone!"

"Fine, you babysit," Damon snapped, losing his patience in dealing with the Tyler situation. He tossed Elena the keys and eyed her sternly, "For getaway purposes only. Don't even _think _about going on a joyride."

Her hand blurred as she used her vamp abilities to catch the keys before they hit her face. She glared at Damon reproachfully, "You're being unreasonable. You can't go in there by yourself! What if Silas is waiting?"

"Yeah? Well you're not exactly leaving me with a lot of choice." With that, he slammed the door shut and stalked off in the direction of the hotel. He didn't hear any sounds coming from behind him, so he was left to conclude that Elena was actually doing what she was told for once and staying inside the car.

A few minutes later, he entered into the hotel lobby and made his way towards the front desk. A bored looking receptionist looked up briefly, "Reservation?"

"No," Damon flashed her a winning smile and then held his phone out, "Have you seen this woman before?"

She barely glanced at the picture that he had presented her. "Don't pay attention to who comes and who goes," she grunted. "You pay, you get a room." She paused to glower at him, "You don't pay, you don't get a room."

"Clearly," Damon said through gritted teeth before shoving the phone back into her face, "Why don't you take a second look?"

She heaved a huge put-upon sigh as she dropped whatever paperwork she was pretending to do, "Listen here—"

The second that she made eye contact, he dropped all pretense and leaned forward. "_Take a look at this picture,_" he commanded, his eyes dilating. _"Tell me if you have seen this girl before." _

The woman's face went slack, her features becoming void of any expression. Damon felt a small twinge of satisfaction. It was so much easier being in a town that didn't drink vervain for breakfast.

"Yes," she intoned obediently, "The girl was here earlier today…only noticed her…so pretty…but so scared…didn't much like the look of the boyfriend…"

"Boyfriend," Damon nodded encouragingly, "Can you describe him?" He flipped his phone around at the same time, scrolling through for a picture of Stefan. With any luck, both of them were holed in one of the rooms for the time being and hadn't gone searching for Lucy yet.

"Dark hair," she sighed, "Real sturdy looking…but cold, you know?" The woman shivered suddenly, "Empty eyes…dark…like he could see right through a person."

The description didn't exactly match his brother's, though some of the phrases could probably apply to Silas. The woman blinked, appearing to come out of the Compulsion. Her expression began to sharpen, but Damon hurriedly leaned forward again, this time holding out a picture of Stefan. "_Was this the man you saw?" _

She took one look and firmly shook her head, "Never seen him before."

Damon's brow furrowed in consternation, "Could you take another look to be sure?"

"Positive. That wasn't him."

"But…" He groaned, turning away from her and thinking quickly. Of course, it was likely that Silas had taken on a different persona once he had left Mystic Falls. But if that was the case, then Katherine _had _to know it wasn't the real Stefan, didn't she? Or…could Silas perhaps show one face to her and a different face to the rest of the world? It seemed possible…

"Sir?" The receptionist was back to her surly attitude, "You getting a room or what?"

"Sure," Damon muttered distractedly, throwing a credit card in her direction. As she made the transaction, he was struck by a sudden thought. "Say," he began casually, "The girl and the boyfriend that we were discussing…how did they pay? Credit card?"

"Didn't pay."

"Right," Damon hesitated, "And I don't suppose you could tell me what room they're staying in?" He knew it was a long shot asking her, and that she was going to feed him the standard line about "hotel policy" but he unfortunately couldn't risk Compulsion again. The lobby behind him had become crowded in the past few minutes, and he didn't think it would be prudent to raise any red flags.

To his surprise, however, she had no qualms about answering. "They were in room 418."

"Thanks, I really appreciate..." he trailed off, "Wait, did you say _were_? As in, past tense?"

"Not there anymore. Checked out a couple hours ago. Think they just wanted to freshen up a bit." The receptionist printed out his receipt and handed it to him, "Have a good day."

"But their car—"

The woman looked at him suspiciously.

"Got it," Damon thanked her and hastily made his way out of the hotel. He glanced across the street, but Silas' car was still there. Maybe they had ditched their ride and "borrowed" a different one? In any case, one thing was certain: Silas and Katherine definitely had a head start in the search for Lucy.

When he turned the corner of the street where he'd parked his car, he was surprised to see Elena standing on the sidewalk anxiously. "There you are," she called, hurrying towards him. "What took you so long?"

"I told you to stay in the car," he reminded her, but allowed a pleased smile to cross his face when she threw her arms around him and drew him in for a tight hug. "I'm fine," he said soothingly, "I was just questioning the receptionist. Nothing happened."

Elena pulled back, gazing at him searchingly as if to ascertain if he was telling the truth. When she was satisfied, she let her arms drop to her sides. "I was just sitting there and thinking about how you'd gone off by yourself while we were annoyed with each other and for all I knew, you'd run into Silas and..."

"Hey," Damon reached out to grasp her shoulders, "Everything's fine, alright? I didn't see Silas, or Katherine for that matter. The receptionist confirmed that they had been there before us, but they're gone now. I did get their room number though, so we should go and check it out...see if they left any clues about where they're headed."

"Okay," she ducked her head, "That sounds like a good idea. Maybe I can search their car while you're looking in their hotel room. That way I can stay outside and keep an eye on your car and Tyler."

"I like the idea of searching the car," Damon told her, "But we're not splitting up. You're right. Silas could be anywhere or anybody. I don't want to be away from you if one of us runs into him." He gave her a small smile when she met his gaze, "Strength in numbers, right?"

"Right," she closed her eyes when he brushed a kiss onto her forehead. "Let's stick together from now on. I don't want us to be apart when we find Silas."

"Or when Silas finds us," Damon muttered darkly, gesturing to the car. As they both got in, he turned towards her cautiously. "Though splitting up might be smarter. At least one of us could survive that way, rather than both of us being in the same place at the same time."

"One of us survives?" Elena frowned in confusion, "What would be the point of that?" Thus with joined hands and joined fates, they drove back to the hotel together.

* * *

"We made the drive in less than six hours," Jeremy stretched as they got out of the car and took in the bustling New Orleans scene. "Wow...there's so many people...everywhere."

"Different from Mystic Falls, huh?" Caroline shaded her eyes as she looked over the crowd in front of them. They had parked at the end of a side street, away from what looked like the market place—or rather a large tourist attraction. She glanced over at Jeremy, who looked a little lost. It had been such a long time since she'd thought of him as Elena's kid brother, but the expression on his face was a blunt reminder of that fact. "Looks like we're not in Kansas anymore," she quipped, and Jeremy looked over at her with a smile.

"Come on, Dorothy," he gestured up ahead, "Let's go see what Bourbon Street has to offer."

Caroline fell into step with him, her lips quirked up thoughtfully. "Okay, Toto," she agreed with a grin, letting out a laugh when he shoved her goodnaturedly. "What?" she giggled, "If I'm Dorothy then that automatically makes you my..."

Her amusement sobered so rapidly that Jeremy immediately looked around at her in alarm. "What is it?" he demanded, his gaze darting around the crowd, "Did you find him? What did you see?"

She came to a full stop, the back of her neck prickling. "Do you feel that?" she whispered uneasily, latching onto his wrist. "Can you _sense _that?"

Jeremy stiffened beside her, his shoulders tensing. "Vampires?"

"And..." Her gaze was drawn towards a woman sitting by herself. She was dark-skinned, wearing heavy shawls and gaudy jewelry. The first word that sprang into Caroline's mind was 'gypsy' but when the woman looked at her sharply, almost knowingly, she came to a different conclusion. "Witch," Caroline murmured, her eyes narrowing. "That one, over there."

"The one that's staring at you?"

"Yeah," she said under her breath, hurrying through the crowd and dragging Jeremy along with her. "Come on, she's trying to get away." They reached the woman just as she finished packing up her things. "Wait!" Caroline laid a hand on the table, leaning forward desperately. "Don't leave, w-we just have a couple questions to ask you."

"I'm closing up for the day," the woman replied, purposefully not making eye contact. "I suggest you search someplace else for whatever you're looking for. I am not alone in my craft."

Jeremy made an exaggerated move of looking at his watch. "Really? But it's just past noon. Closing up already?"

She ignored him, but her expression flickered as Caroline blurted out, "No, but...but you're a witch, right? Like, a real one?"

The woman pursed her lips, "Just as I know you're a vampire. A real one." Her gaze dropped to Caroline's ring finger, "A day walker."

"Yes," Caroline glanced at Jeremy before crossing her arms to hide the ring from view. "I am. Do you know any other, um...I mean, have there been any other new...vampires...in the area recently?"

She stared at them impassively.

"Please," Caroline begged, "It's important. Is...is it money you want? We can pay you, whatever you want."

"Keep your money, child. I have no use for it." Her voice dropped low, her tone laced with a warning, "And you'll have no use for it either, if Marcel gets wind of your arrival."

"Marcel?"

"He owns the vampires. Witches, too. You'd do well to find the Original hybrid and his brother before Marcel finds you first." She tilted her head discreetly, "He has spies everywhere."

"Klaus and Elijah," Jeremy asked eagerly, "Where can we find them?"

"You may find one of them, if not both, at this bar." She scribbled something down on a piece of scrap paper and handed it to him. "Ask nothing more of me, and don't come back here. Marcel has already killed one witch since Klaus came to town. I don't much fancy being the second."

"Thank you," he said seriously, "We won't forget your help. Come on, Caroline."

She began to follow him, but then the witch called her back by name. "Be careful, child. The road to whom you search for is paved with trouble, and the road away is paved with disappointment."

Caroline blinked, startled. Before she could press the issue, however, Jeremy called out to her. She turned around just in time to see him disappear into the crowd. By the time she had whirled back around, the woman had vanished.

"What was she saying to you?" Jeremy asked when she caught up to him several minutes later. "Something about Klaus?"

"No," she looked away guiltily, "She was just reminding us to be careful."

Jeremy nodded unsuspectingly. "So, I was thinking it would be easier to navigate there on foot. Driving through these streets and weaving around the crowds will be a hassle. It shouldn't be a long walk."

"Okay," Caroline agreed quickly, pulling her phone out of her purse and entering the address into the GPS. "Let's go."

The directions were easy enough to follow, but the two of them stuck close together nonetheless. The sunlight shined down on them, dramaticizing the already vibrant streets and making the contrast with the dullness of Mystic Falls all the more clearer. After about twenty minutes, Jeremy pointed to a building on their right, "There it is." He led the way into the bar, and they both let out a simultaneous sigh of relief as the cool air hit their skin. It was dark inside the establishment, and thankfully much more quieter than it was outside.

Given the early hour in the day, there were only a few patrons within the booths. It appeared that there were only two workers as well; a blonde girl wiping down the bar and a dark-haired girl who was just coming out of the kitchen. She came to a standstill when she caught sight of the new arrivals, but neither of them noticed. "I don't see them," Caroline ran her fingers through her hair in frustration, "They're not here!"

"Calm down," Jeremy said under his breath, guiding her towards the bar. "Hey," he smiled broadly at the bartender, his gaze dropping to the name tag on her sweater. "Camille, is it? I'm Jeremy." He slid into a seat, and next to him Caroline did the same. "We're visiting from Virginia," he added as he casually looked around the bar. "Not too busy in here, huh? I guess everyone must be outside."

"We're from a small town," Caroline explained, attempting to be her usual chatty self. "There's not much to do, so you can pretty much find the whole town at the local bar any hour of the day."

Camille laughed, a genuine smile lighting up her features. "I came from a small town, too," she told them, "But when I graduated last year, I thought...well, I hadn't seen anything yet, you know? I took a year off, traveled around the world a bit...and now I'm here." She glanced behind her secretively and—once she was sure no one was there—she reached under the counter and pulled out a textbook. "Don't tell my boss, but I use the slow hours to get a head start on my reading. It doesn't usually get busy in here till the sun goes down."

Jeremy and Caroline exchanged a significant glance. _Vampires. _

Camille looked between them, "Is something wrong?"

"No," Caroline said hastily, casting about for an excuse. Her gaze landed on the book lying on the counter. "Oh, Psychology," she said interestedly, "Is that what you're going to school for?"

She nodded, "The subject has always fascinated me. What about you guys? High school? College?"

"I'm in high school," Jeremy replied, "But Caroline actually just graduated. She'll be a freshman in the Fall, too."

"Congrats," Camille grinned, "I would offer you a drink, but I don't want to lose my job. Especially since my boss is already eying us over there." She pulled out a notepad, "So, what can I get you guys?" She waggled her eyebrows suggestively, "We're famous for our gumbo."

"We'll get two orders of that, then," Caroline responded tightly, watching as Camille disappeared through the double doors into the kitchen. "The dark-haired girl..."

"Is right behind you. Vampire."

They both turned around quickly, but Caroline recovered first. "Well, then," she hedged nervously, "You must be a witch."

"Sophie Deveraux," the girl replied coldly, "And you must be lost." She placed a hand on her hip, "Marcel doesn't take kindly to new vampires on his turf without his permission." She eyed Caroline's ring, "And a day-walker at that. The only day-walkers he allows are in his inner-circle; his cherry-picked family."

"We're not here to cause any trouble," Jeremy said assertively, standing up and inserting himself between Caroline and Sophie. "We're just looking for someone. Maybe you know him. Klaus?"

Her eyes flickered with recognition, "You know Klaus?"

Caroline hopped off her bar stool and came to stand by Jeremy's side. "Where can we find him?"

"You're looking for Klaus?" Camille had come out of the kitchen, unnoticed by any of them. "He's in here most nights, with his buddy Marcel." She placed their dishes on the counter, looking thoughtful. "A real pair of charmers, the two of them. Klaus' brother Elijah joins them sometimes, but I get the feeling that the bar's not really his type of scene. More like he's around to keep an eye on his brother, you know?"

"Seems like I've spent the better part of my life doing just that," a familiar voice came from behind them. Elijah stepped out of the shadows, looking rather out of place in his impeccable grey suit. "Hello Caroline...Jeremy." The shock on his face was evident, "I wasn't aware that you had returned from...your trip."

"Yes, I'm back," Jeremy shifted, "That's actually what we're here to discuss."

"Then I suppose we must speak privately," Elijah turned and began walking away, "Follow me." Caroline and Jeremy were led through a side door at the far end of the bar, and then through a darkened hallway. A few minutes later, they reached another door. "Through here, if you please."

"Where are you taking us?" Caroline asked as they walked out the back door. The sun was beginning to set, streaking the sky with a multitude of brilliant colors. She looked up, enthralled by the sight. "It's almost like a painting," she murmured, "It's beautiful."

"Yes, it's quite the sight to behold," Elijah touched her elbow gently, "There will be time for all that later." With that, he strode away briskly, leading them through deserted back roads. If she used her vampire hearing, she could still hear the blaring music from Bourbon Street—but otherwise, all the sounds were muted save for their footsteps against the pavement. "Come," Elijah stopped suddenly and turned into an alleyway. "This is Marcel's bar. A breeding ground for all things supernatural. Only at night, of course."

"Marcel?" Caroline repeated, her voice echoing disconcertingly as they stepped into the bar. "Oh."

There were only a few men seated at the bar, but they all ceased talking the minute she walked in. Even though she had never seen them before, there was no shadow of a doubt in her mind that they were all vampires. A quick glance at their hands confirmed that they were all wearing daylight rings. _Marcel's inner circle, _she realized, remembering what Sophie had told her.

"Gentlemen," Elijah placed a hand on her back and guided her forward, "This here is a friend of mine. Do you mind telling me where I can find my brother? She has come on important business."

"Back room," one of them replied, "But he asked not to be disturbed."

"Doesn't he always," Elijah returned with the barest hint of a smile. "Come along," he added to Caroline and Jeremy, "I don't doubt my brother shall make an exception for you." He led them down another long hallway, and then knocked loudly at the door at the end. "Niklaus? I have some news that may interest you."

The door flung open almost instantly. "I thought I made it clear that I didn't wish to be dis—"

Elijah stepped back, at the same time that Caroline moved forward. The last threads of sunlight emanating from the crack in the door illuminated his silhouette, and cast a sliver of diagonal light across her face. She took another step towards him, leaving the light behind her as darkness fell across her features. "Klaus."


	9. Room 418

**a/n: **sorry I never have time to respond to individual reviews! but thank you for all your comments, I read and appreciate every single one of them :)

* * *

_[SALEM]_

_._

_._

Damon peered back and forth down the alleyway, his senses on high alert. When he was sure there was no one watching, he hurried forward to the red door on the side of the hotel and gave it an experimental tug. It didn't budge, clearly having been locked shut from the inside. He stepped closer and placed his ear near the minuscule space where the edge of the door met the brick wall. After listening for a few seconds, he pulled harder on the door, using his vampire strength to break the lock. With a loud click, the door opened and Damon slipped inside.

He gave his eyes a second to adjust to the dark, cursing under his breath about the lack of human blood he'd had over the last couple of days. In trying to teach Elena a lesson about the restraint needed when feeding, his own senses were dulling to the point where he was starting to get worried. He and Elena both needed human blood in their systems, especially if they were trying to outsmart Silas. Damon cautiously walked down the hallway, towards the florescent lights that he could see reflected around the corner. As he neared, a few sounds reached his ears—specifically the clanging that came from pots and pans in a kitchen.

Sure enough, he rounded the corner and found himself facing double doors that led to the hotel kitchen. There were only a few workers scattered throughout the room, all of them busy either cooking or cleaning dishes. No one noticed him enter, and Damon stood there for a second, trying to decide what to do. Even though the lack of staff was helpful, there were still too many people to Compel. The best he could do was create a distraction.

"Excuse me?" he called loudly, making his presence known as he walked more fully into the kitchen. "Who is the chef here?"

One woman looked over, from where she'd been chopping tomatoes. Her auburn hair was pulled into a severe bun, lending to a rather intimidating facial expression. "Who are you?" she demanded, coming around the counter with her hands on her hips. "Excuse me sir, but you can't be in here."

Her eyes were a startlingly familiar shade of green, and Damon was momentarily distracted as he was reminded of Stefan. "I was just out in the dining room," he said haltingly, sliding his gaze away from hers and addressing the other four workers who had also stopped what they were doing out of curiosity. "And this one guy in there is going on and on about how he's about to sue the hotel—"

"For what?" Auburn-hair asked, blinking rapidly. Damon tilted his head, recognizing the signs of panic settling over the room. "Alejandro stepped outside for a minute, n-nothing can go wrong when he's not here!"

"You better go in there and talk to him," Damon said, herding the workers away from the doors he'd just walked through and towards the main entrance to the kitchen. "Before he causes a scene!"

At the same time, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and pressed 'send' on the pre-saved text message, alerting Elena that this was her chance to enter through the door unseen.

…

Elena hastily shoved her phone into her pocket and hauled Tyler's unconscious body against hers. It wasn't any trouble to carry him, but she couldn't help thinking about how much easier this would be if he was awake. It had been more than four hours now. That couldn't be normal.

She nudged the red door open with her foot and cautiously stepped in, lifting Tyler in ahead of her. She threw one last glance over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching, but thankfully the alley remained deserted.

Once she was in, she took a deep breath. If there was ever a time to put her superspeed to good use, this was it. Somehow, she had to get both herself and Tyler up to room 418 without attracting anybody's attention. Elevators weren't an option, because of the security cameras. If only she knew where the nearest staircase was...

As if he was reading her mind, her phone buzzed at that moment with a text from Damon. She pulled it out to see a blurry photo of a hotel map. "Staircase on the left as soon as you leave the kitchen," she read out loud. "Alright, well here goes nothing," she muttered to herself, "Ready, Tyler?"

Tyler's head lolled forward onto his chest.

"Right." Elena lifted him into her arms and steeled her resolve. And then she was off, blurring through the double doors and into the lobby. She saw the EXIT sign immediately to her left, a mere red glow on the edges of her vision. She veered into the staircase, the door swinging backwards in her wake and slamming against the wall with a bang.

Several people in the lobby turned towards the sound, startled, but she was already long gone. She saw the '4' out of the corner of her eye and came to a halt on the landing, breathing hard out of habit. "Well, that was successful, wasn't it, Tyler?" She glanced at him, but there was still no response. "And I'm just going to keep talking to myself," she told him, "Because it's not like people don't already think I'm crazy."

She stood on her tiptoes to look through the small glass panel on the door that led out to the fourth floor. There was no movement that she could see, but after a few seconds the elevator at the end of the hallway dinged open and Damon stepped out. He looked towards the staircase door and caught her eye, but then held out a finger, clearly cautioning her to wait.

Elena stood still, waiting for him to find the room. He wandered down the hallway, glimpsing quickly at each door number until he came to a stop about halfway down. He tested the doorknob and she saw him pause before clenching his fingers and adding the little bit of extra strength that would break the lock. He stuck his head into the room and then gestured for Elena to join him. She pulled open the staircase door, and with Tyler securely in her arms, she blurred down the hallway and into room 418.

...

"You'd think they were planning to come back or something," Elena grumbled a half hour later as they rifled through the various odds and ends that Silas and Katherine had left in the room. "But you said the receptionist told you they had checked out?"

"That's what she said, but it doesn't add up," Damon answered distractedly, "Especially since their car is still parked right outside. I'm betting that they did check out, but Silas told the receptionist not to allow anyone to stay in this room. It would explain why they left so much stuff here, if they were planning on coming back."

"Too bad Silas didn't leave a laptop or something behind," Elena commented moodily, "You know, like they do in those movies and stuff? Because then we could just look through his browser history and find out where they were headed."

Damon grinned in spite of himself. "Ah, to be young and naïve."

"I am _not_," she protested defensively, "I'm just saying..."

"So, we have to kick it old school," he shrugged, "Take a look around, Elena. Whatever we're looking for is in this mess somewhere; we just have to find it."

"Easier said than done," she opened a couple drawers from the bedside table, but they were both empty. "I just wish Katherine had left us some kind of clue. You'd think she would have, if she realized she was with Silas and not Stefan. Wouldn't she want to be saved?"

Damon frowned. "No," he responded slowly, "Katherine hates being saved. She takes pride in being a survivor, standing on her own two feet all these years." He wandered into the adjoining bathroom, keeping his eyes peeled. "But you're right, this is the one case in her entire existence where I think she would want someone to find her."

"Um, what are you doing?" Elena followed him into the bathroom questioningly, "You think she left a clue in here?"

"In plain sight," Damon murmured to himself, his hands skimming over the unused hotel toiletries. Then he paused, his fingers latching on to a still-covered bar of soap. "Well, what do we have here?"

Elena crossed her arms, having no idea what he was going on about. "Damon, that is just a regular bar of soap. It doesn't have secret powers and it isn't the moonstone. We're wasting time—"

"Wait," he tugged on a corner of the paper covering the soap, which had loosened from its adhesive glue. "Katherine is human. Maybe she told Silas she needed to shower, and..." With another careful tug, he pulled apart the paper completely. A satisfied smirk fell across his face, "Just as I thought."

Elena walked forward, her mouth dropping open. "Oh my god," she breathed, reading the simple scrawl on the inside of the paper. "You did it...you found her clue!"

Damon held the address up between two fingers, "Destination Lucy Bennett, anyone?"

* * *

_[NEW ORLEANS]_

_._

_._

To say that Klaus looked shocked would've been an enormous understatement. "Caroline," he looked like he was about to take a step back, but then he stood his ground. "What on earth are you doing here?"

Caroline's ears pricked, hearing quiet footsteps coming in their direction. Elijah raised his head at her, a clear warning in his gaze. She bit her lip, thinking quickly and coming up with the best story she could under the circumstances. "Just coming to collect on your promise," she answered coyly, looking up at him from beneath lowered eyelashes. "Your voicemail?"

"Voicemail?" Klaus repeated hoarsely, and from the corner of her eye she could see him gripping the doorframe tightly. In fact, any tighter and the wood would probably splinter off into a million tiny pieces. When he caught her staring, he loosened his grip, flexing his hands as though he was itching to strangle someone.

She pulled out her phone and held it out in the palm of her hand, though she didn't turn it on. She had already memorized the message word for word, and now she recited it quietly: _"I'm standing in one of my favorite places in the world, surrounded by food, music, art, culture, and all I can think about is how much I want to show it to you. Maybe one day you'll let me." _When she was done, she leaned back against the wall across from him, studying his expression. "Well, it's here," she told him blandly, "The one day."

"Brother, is this your doing?" Elijah looked as though he didn't quite dare to believe it, "You invited her...here?"

Klaus didn't meet his gaze—in fact, he wouldn't meet anyone's gaze. He stared down at the ground, his jaw ticking almost imperceptibly. "Klaus?" Caroline asked, beginning to feel uneasy, "What's wrong?"

When he didn't answer, she began to step towards him. But then she gasped as the door behind him opened wider and another man entered her field of vision. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a muscular physique. Her gaze lingered on his body for only a second, however, before she was drawn to his eyes.

They were dark and alluring, and something about them reminded her of Damon. It took her a minute to figure it out, but then she realized—it was that element in his expression; one that promised both excitement and danger. Her gaze roamed down to the muscles encased in his fitted black T-shirt, and it was only then that she realized she was blatantly staring. She tore her eyes back up to his face, and a knowing smirk flitted across his lips. "Well, Klaus, aren't you going to introduce me to your beautiful friend?"

His voice was deep and Caroline shifted uncomfortably when his eyes didn't stray away from hers in the slightest. It was almost like he could see something beyond what everyone else saw. Beyond the surface. As if he was in on a secret that no one else in the world knew. "This is Caroline," Klaus was saying, when she zoned back into the conversation. He shuffled his foot back and forth across the ground, "And Caroline, this is..."

"Marcel," the name fell unbidden from her lips. She didn't know how she knew it, but she did. Everything she'd heard about him since she and Jeremy had set foot into New Orleans raced through her mind at lightning speed.

_...he owns the vampires. Witches, too. You'd do well to find the Original hybrid and his brother before Marcel finds you first..spies everywhere...__already killed one witch since Klaus came to town...__doesn't take kindly to new vampires on his turf without his permission...__A real pair of charmers, the two of them..._

"I see my reputation precedes me," Marcel said smoothly, taking Caroline's hand within his own and raising it to his lips. She had half a mind to snatch her hand away, but then she caught Elijah's expression over Jeremy's shoulder. The implication couldn't be clearer: she had to play nice.

"It sure does," she replied with a smile, flipping her hair over her shoulder with her free hand. When Marcel didn't release her from his grip, she realized he was staring at the ring on her finger. "Yes, I'm a vampire," she said a little testily, "Is that a problem?"

He looked taken aback for maybe half a second, but then he treated her to a broad grin. "Any friend of Klaus' is a friend of mine," he proclaimed, spreading his arms wide. "Welcome to our home, Caroline." He dipped his head slightly, creating a show for the rest of his crew, who had made their presence known at the end of the hallway. "I do hope you'll allow me to show you around?"

"Oh," she exchanged a glance with Jeremy, whose expression flickered with dislike. "From what I hear, you're a busy man, Marcel," she said with just the right amount of sincerity, "I wouldn't want to take up any of your valuable time."

"It's no trouble at all," he crowed, sliding an arm around her shoulders and taking Jeremy by the elbow at the same time. "The sun is just about to set," he whispered to her as he led them all back out to the bar, "That's when things _really _get interesting."

Caroline tried to smile, and twisted her head around to see where Klaus was. But her shoulders slumped when she noticed that neither Elijah nor Klaus had followed them back into the room. "Um," she stalled, "I was really hoping to catch up with Klaus for a bit. I haven't seen him since..."

"Since he saved Damon Salvatore's ass at your graduation?" Marcel looked pleased at Caroline's apparent shock. "Let's just get one thing straight," he said to her, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "Nothing goes on in my quarter that I don't know about. These are my people," he placed his hand over his chest, "My rules. My town. When Klaus left to go to Mystic Falls, he ran it by me first. That's just how it works around here." Marcel straightened, flashing her a smile. "As long as you understand that, then you and I won't have any problems."

She chewed on the inside of her lip, willing herself not to lose her temper. "Are you saying that you _own _Klaus?" she demanded finally, unable to keep the venom from lacing her tone. "Because let me tell you something right now—"

"Caroline." Elijah's voice was sharp, and she broke off as he entered the room. "Forgive the girl, Marcel. She knows not of whom she speaks to."

Marcel's stance didn't relax. "I'm willing to make allowances for newcomers," he answered coldly, "But I don't forgive insolence."

"The girl is only looking out for Klaus' best interests," Elijah walked closer, his tone becoming persuasive. "She and my brother share a special...connection. She feels protective of him." Caroline's mouth opened furiously, but Elijah ignored her. "Klaus has saved her life several times. She feels indebted to him."

"I see," Marcel turned to look at her, and she could almost pinpoint the exact moment that his expression became calculating. "Would you say your brother cares for her?"

"As much as he can care for anyone," Elijah placed a hand on her back, and she could feel his tension. "Which isn't saying much, by any means. But you knew that already."

"That I did," Marcel agreed, sweeping an arm out. "Well, Caroline, I trust Klaus to show you all that New Orleans has to offer." He glanced towards the front door, as a small crowd of people began to filter through. "As you can see, my bar holds a certain appeal to the supernatural." He leaned forward on the counter, turning on the charm. "I do hope you'll make a stop back here before your night is through, Caroline."

"We will," Jeremy said firmly, grabbing her arm and leading her out the door. "Thank you so much for your...hospitality." When they exited the bar into the crowded street, Elijah was right behind them. "Where's Klaus?" Jeremy demanded, "Is he not coming with us?"

"Bourbon Street is a sight to behold once night falls. Come along."

Caroline huffed, grabbing Elijah's arm to stop him from walking away. "Wait a second, where are we going? I have to tell Klaus—"

"Anything you wish to tell Klaus, you can tell me," Elijah cut her off, "I am not as closely watched as he is, and you'll find that I arouse significantly less suspicion than the two of you do."

"I thought you said we could speak to him," Caroline said accusingly, "Why did you change your mind?"

"I changed my mind when you and Marcel got off on the wrong foot. And now it would be best if you told me what this is all about." He looked over at Jeremy, "Your sister led me to believe that Katerina had killed you."

"She did," Jeremy said roughly, "But when Bonnie dropped the veil to the Other Side, she used..." He trailed off, the pain in his expression unmistakable. He suddenly turned towards the right, smiling at something that only he could see. "She used the extent of her powers to bring me back, for Elena's sake. But...it was too much. Her body couldn't handle that much magic at once."

"It killed her," Elijah's voice was grave, "My sincerest condolences to you both. I know what it's like to lose someone you care about deeply." He glanced at the space that Jeremy was fixated on, "Can you see her? Is she here with us now?"

"Yeah," he nodded once, swallowing. "She's here."

"And that's why we're here," Caroline straightened her shoulders, "We need help from a witch, and we thought Klaus could help us. We know he left Mystic Falls to deal with witches, so we figured that he could make a deal with them or something."

Elijah stood before them, his expression unchanging. "I am not quite sure I understand," he said politely, "What exactly is it that you think my brother will be able to accomplish? The witches in this quarter are not his friends. And moreover, they are not allowed to practice magic."

"So what?" Jeremy snapped, "That's just one of Marcel's stupid rules, isn't it? I don't care what you say, there are witches here and they must be powerful if Klaus was scared enough to run away from Mystic Falls just to find out what they were plotting against him. They'll know how to bring Bonnie back, and we're going to convince them to do it, with or without your help."

"I see stubbornness runs in the Gilbert family," Elijah said tightly, "But I'm afraid neither Klaus nor I can help you. Bringing Bonnie back requires lowering the veil to the Other Side again, and no sane witch is going to attempt a feat like that." He quickly turned to the right where Bonnie's ghost had last been standing, "No offense." When he turned his attention back to the conversation at hand, he blinked in confusion. "Where has Caroline gone?"

Jeremy folded his arms, "To do what you won't."

Anger flashed across his face and he grabbed Jeremy's wrist, "Listen to me. You are in more danger than you realize. Caroline can't just go gallivanting off to ask some random witch to do a spell for her. You can never be sure who is working for Marcel and who isn't. Klaus has worked hard to establish himself within Marcel's inner circle and having Caroline here to destroy everything he's worked for isn't—" He broke off suddenly, looking as if he'd said too much.

"What are you talking about?" Jeremy demanded, "Why does Klaus want to be in Marcel's inner circle?"

...

Caroline stepped into Sophie's bar, her gaze swinging through the crowd. Camille had been right about one thing: the bar certainly came alive after dark. Caroline impatiently weaved her way through the throngs of people, trying to find Sophie. When she'd ascertained that the witch wasn't out in the main area, she made her way towards the side door that Elijah had taken them through earlier that day.

The noise from the bar cut off abruptly once the wooden door swung shut behind her, and Caroline cautiously walked down the darkened hallway. She could hear raised voices coming from a door on the left and she came to a stop in front of it, listening.

"She can't know," Klaus hissed, "She can never find out, do you understand?"

"I stand by our original deal," Sophie responded flatly, "Whether or not your girlfriend finds out is entirely up to you. But if she puts our plan into jeopardy, then I won't be responsible for what happens to her."

"I won't have you threatening Caroline," Klaus' voice rose, "She has nothing to do with this. She has no idea what she's walked into."

"That much is clear," Sophie said coolly, "So I suggest that you get rid of her before she catches Marcel's eye, or worse."

There were a few moments of silence, and Caroline pressed her ear against the door. She could hear footsteps treading inside; probably Klaus pacing back and forth. "Fine," he snapped finally, "I'll send her and the boy away, back to Mystic Falls. Would that make you happy?"

"Don't put this on me, Klaus. I just don't want her to get hurt, anymore than you do." Sophie's voice softened, "If you care for her, then you'll make sure she never comes back. Marcel needs to be taken down, and we can't have any outsiders coming in to complicate matters. You've spent so much time and energy to get Marcel to accept you into his inner-circle. Do you really want all that trust to be thrown away just for this one girl?"

He didn't reply.

"Do the right thing, Klaus," Sophie cajoled, "Think of your brother's wish for your family. A legacy. You wouldn't want any harm to come to Hayley and your baby now, would you?"

Caroline clapped a hand to her mouth, but she was too late to stop the horrified gasp from escaping her lips. Klaus' head whipped around at the sound and he blurred over to the door, frantically throwing it open.

But she was already gone.


	10. If You're Going Through Hell, Keep Going

_Keep your head up_  
_Nothing lasts forever_  
_Here's to the damned_  
_To the lost and forgotten  
_

_._

_._

"I see rumors of your Petrova fire have been greatly exaggerated," Silas commented blithely, glancing at Katherine from the corner of his eye. She'd been curled up against the window, her arms folded across her body, with her long wet hair arranged so that it swept across the side of her face—effectively hiding her expression from his view.

She didn't respond, instead turning her head a quarter of an inch further to her right so that her forehead was pressed up against the window. She gazed blearily out at the passing landscape, noticing their surroundings become more deserted the further that they drove.

The car lurched forward then around a pothole, and Katherine hastily clamped her eyes shut, willing the infernal pounding in her head to go away. She heard a chuckle from the seat next to her, and she painstakingly lifted her head away from the window to glare at Silas.

He raised an eyebrow at her in faint amusement. "Humanity _really _doesn't suit you, Katerina."

"I told you," she hissed through gritted teeth, "Not to call me that."

"My mistake," Silas responded with a grin, "And at the rate you're going, you're probably going to be _begging _me to kill you before the night is done."

"I don't really see any reason for us to talk," Katherine spat back, "So why don't you just shut the hell up until we get to Lucy's?"

"Need I remind you of the rules?"

"No."

The car lurched forward again, and this time she knew he'd done it on purpose. "Look at me, Katherine." His tone left no room for argument, and she begrudgingly turned to face him. "When we get to Lucy's, you will not indicate to her that I am not Stefan. You will not try to ask her for help. You will not attempt to stage a getaway plan. Do we understand each other?"

She pressed her lips together defiantly, but then he abruptly reached over and grabbed her forearm in an unforgivable grip and she let out a strangled gasp of pain. "Yes, okay!? I get it. Let go!"

He let her suffer for another ten seconds before releasing her from his grasp. Katherine instantly moved as far away from him as she could, her fingers gingerly massaging her bruised arm. Tears pricked her eyelids and she turned her face away towards the window. She refused to show him any weakness, human or not.

The car slowed down at that moment, and she looked over to see Silas make a right turn down a rickety dirt road. There was nothing on either side of them, save for a few pine trees. In the distance, however, Katherine could see a small house that was presumably their destination. "Is that it?"

Silas pulled to a stop on the side of the road, just a few feet away from the house. "She knows we're here," he told her, "I just saw someone watching us from that window upstairs."

Katherine looked up just in time to see the purple curtain twitch back into place. "Well? Should we knock on her door or what?"

"Go ahead," Silas leaned back in his seat, making no move to get out of the car. "I assume she'll be a little confused to see you in the company of someone who was last seen trying to kill you."

"Fine," she grumbled, unbuckling her seatbelt and stepping out of the car. Her legs were cramped and her stomach rolled with a mixture of anxiety and nerves. She winced, leaning against the side of the car to steady herself.

"Katherine Pierce?" a familiar voice called, "Is that really you?" Lucy Bennett had opened her front door, and now stood on the porch, one hand at her hip. "Girl, you look like you've been run over by a truck."

"Feels like it too," Katherine managed to say, hauling herself into a standing position. She tried to walk towards the house, but ended up staggering forward and collapsing onto her knees.

"Kat!" Silas called from behind her, inflecting just the right amount of worry and panic into his voice to sound exactly like Stefan. "Are you okay?"

Lucy, who had been hurrying forward to help her, came to a halt. "Stefan Salvatore?"

"Please," Silas said desperately, "We need your help! We came all this way from Mystic Falls just to find you. We...I mean, _Katherine_...has no one left to turn to."

"What's wrong with her?" Lucy looked unnerved as she reached out to help Katherine to her feet. "Why does she look so—" She broke off as soon as her hand made contact with Katherine's. "No," Lucy breathed, letting go and stepping back with wide eyes. "But it's not possible! She's..."

"Human," Katherine croaked, her shoulders slumping in defeat. She looked up, meeting Lucy's gaze beseechingly. "Please, you have to help me."

* * *

Bonnie shifted, feeling the invisible barrier around her flutter. There was a slight strain as it worked to keep out whoever was trying to get in, but then the resistance faded. She didn't bother to turn around to see who had joined her. That was the one advantage of being a ghost; the worst had already happened. _You were dead. Nothing could harm you. Nothing could touch you. Fire, water, air, earth. You were impervious to it all. Invincible. It was ironic, really. _

"Bit pathetic."

She stiffened.

"Watching over your so-called friends, knowing that you're slipping further and further from their minds as each day passes."

Bonnie opened her mouth in a defensive retort, but then thought better of it. He was baiting her, and she just had to be strong enough to stay silent. It wasn't like he could physically touch her. The most he could do was verbally spar with her, but she wasn't going to let his words affect her. She would just have to ignore him until he disappeared again.

"They'll all move on, you know." His voice was at her ear now, so close that she could feel the coolness of his breath against her skin. She repressed a shiver, turning her face away in disgust. "See, they all still have _lives, _unlike you. Look at them, already so involved in their petty little rifts...jealousy, betrayal, _love.._" Bonnie involuntarily looked over at Caroline, who was standing in the midst of Bourbon Street and watching a painter. Even at this distance, she could see the tear stains glistening on her face. "Such silly, mundane things they all waste their lives worrying about."

Bonnie walked further down the street, wandering until she came across Sophie's bar. She could see Klaus standing outside, engaged in a fierce argument with Elijah. She looked around hopefully, but Jeremy was nowhere to be found. "It's not what you thought it'd be like, is it? Did you think that your loyal puppy dog Jeremy Gilbert would have you on his mind _all _the time? That he would constantly want to _see _you, _talk _to you, keep you company while you withered away all _alone _here on the Other S—"

"Shut up!" Bonnie whirled around, finally losing her temper. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about!"

Kol looked delighted.

"Don't I?" he goaded, "You think I don't know what it's like? My family who spouts their 'always and forever' nonsense, but conveniently forgot all about me in the pursuit of their own pleasures?" He glared at Klaus and Elijah spitefully, "Look at them, squabbling over a _girl. _Thousands of years later and everything is still exactly the same."

"They're not fighting over a girl." Bonnie didn't know why she felt the need to clarify this, but she did. "You haven't been paying attention."

"Haven't I?" Kol pointed at Klaus, "Knocked up Hayley, didn't want Caroline to find out." Then he pointed at Elijah, "Wants to protect Hayley and the baby, and will rip out the heart of anyone who threatens their safety. How am I doing so far?"

She didn't answer.

"Shall I continue then?" Kol didn't wait for her response, "The witches in New Orleans want to stage a revolt against Marcel, because he won't allow them to practice magic. And they're going to use my dear brother to do their bidding, all the while holding Hayley and the baby hostage."

Bonnie turned to look at him in spite of herself. "What I don't get is how Marcel _knows _when magic is being used," she said thoughtfully, "If Klaus can just figure that out, then all the power Marcel holds will be lost."

"True enough," Kol shrugged, "But why do you care? It's my brother's problem, not yours. Last I checked, he was your enemy not your friend." He happened to catch sight of her expression at that moment, and his eyes widened. "Wait a second, you want to solve the little mystery for them, don't you? You think if you hand over Marcel's secret weapon, the witches here will be grateful enough to find a spell to bring you back to life."

"So what?" Bonnie challenged, "That's why Caroline and Jeremy are here, isn't it? They needed to find witches, and now all they have to do is convince them to help—and if we solve their problems first, then they'll be more than willing to lend a hand."

"You think you've got it all figured out, don't you?" Kol got into her face then, his eyes glinting menacingly. "You think there's just an easy magical solution to everything, even _death_."

"N-no, that's not—"

"What makes you so much better than the rest of us stuck here for eternity?" Kol suddenly shoved her backwards, and she was so startled by the sensation that she lost her balance and fell to the ground. She crawled back uncertainly as he stepped forward, towering over her. "Why do you deserve to rejoin the world of the living, Bonnie Bennett?" Kol leaned over her, his tone becoming malicious. "You haven't killed people? You haven't been responsible for death and destruction?"

She swallowed, her body beginning to shake. "I'm not a bad person."

"Not a bad person?" he sneered, and she knew he was mocking her. "If your soul was so _pure _then why didn't you move on? No," he shook his head, "You deserve to be here, the same as the rest of us." With that, he pressed against the barrier and vanished, leaving her completely alone. Again.

* * *

"I can't believe you weren't keeping a better eye on her!" Klaus shouted, "Now she's god knows where, probably seconds away from one of Marcel's minions—"

"Caroline can take care of herself," Elijah said calmly, though his eyes betrayed his inner turmoil. "Don't take this out on me, brother."

Klaus stopped pacing the sidewalk, whirling around to scowl at Elijah. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Only that you have no one to blame but yourself."

"Excuse me?"

"If you had told Caroline the truth from the beginning, she wouldn't have had to find out in this rather unpleasant manner."

"So now this is _my _fault?" Klaus snapped, storming forward in his rage. "If you recall, _brother, _I would have had Hayley killed long ago if it hadn't been for YOU stepping in as always to save the day." He stopped inches from Elijah's face with a sneer, "Ever the white knight."

"I hardly think of myself as the hero in this scenario," Elijah stepped backwards, folding his hands behind his back. "I am merely looking out for our family's best interests, Niklaus."

"Oh, spare me—"

"This child is our legacy," he interrupted, "With the cure gone, there is no hope of Rebekah bearing children one day nor of myself fathering any offspring. _You _are the only chance we have of continuing our lineage." He reached out and clasped his brother's shoulder, "I thought we had agreed on this, Klaus. Isn't this what you wanted?"

Klaus stared at the ground irritably. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this."

"I know," Elijah cajoled, "But now that the truth is out in the open, perhaps it's all for the best."

"Guys!" They both turned as Jeremy came running towards them, looking out of breath. "I searched everywhere, but I couldn't find her. I even walked all the way back to the car, because I thought she might've taken off, but it was still there."

"Well, that means she's still in the area someplace," Elijah replied promptly, "Did you try calling her?"

"She won't answer..." Jeremy trailed off, his gaze drifting to the right. "Bonnie! Have you seen Caroline?" The Mikealsen brothers waited with bemused expressions as Jeremy had a conversation with someone they couldn't see, until he suddenly exclaimed, "Down there? But I just walked by! What painter?"

Klaus abruptly spun on his heel, taking off into the night. "I believe my brother might know this painter that you speak of," Elijah commented, "Shall we?" He strode into the crowd without waiting for a response, weaving through them with such certainty that Jeremy began to wonder if perhaps he also knew the so-called painter they were searching for.

"Caroline!"

She started, looking towards who had called her. When she saw Klaus, her face fell. "It's been a long couple of days, okay?" she said before he could get in a word, "Can we just discuss this in the morning?"

"Morning?" Elijah joined them, exchanging a glance with Klaus. "I didn't realize you were planning on staying in New Orleans, Caroline."

Jeremy crossed his arms, "We came here for help, Elijah, and we're not leaving until we get it."

"Help?" Klaus looked confused, "With what?"

"The witches," he responded forcefully, "We need their help to bring Bonnie back from the Other Side."

"And I already explained to them that this is quite impossible," Elijah interjected, "Especially since the witches here aren't allowed to practice magic."

"You know I would normally do anything to help you, Caroline, but I'm afraid my brother is right. Marcel has banned magic here. It's how he holds all supernatural beings under his control."

"Then convince him to break the rules," Caroline pleaded, "You guys are best friends or whatever, aren't you? He'll listen to you!"

Klaus was already shaking his head, "It doesn't work like that...there is a delicate balance between..." He trailed off, looking frustrated. "I wish I could tell you everything, but I can't."

"Guys, wait a second," Jeremy held up his hand to gesture for them to be quiet, "Bonnie has an idea." He listened for a few seconds, smiling grimly. "And I think it just might work."

* * *

"You will never believe what Caroline just texted me," Elena whispered to Damon, glancing at the backseat to make sure Tyler was still out of it before continuing. "Hayley's pregnant!"

Damon's brow furrowed, "Who?"

Elena shot him an annoyed look, "Can you not do that?"_  
_

"Do what?"

"Act like anyone who's not directly affecting your life isn't important?"

He rolled his eyes, "Give it twenty years or so, you'll be right where I am, Little Miss Empathy."

Elena brushed off his remark without a second thought. "Hayley was the one who—"

"Yes, I know," Damon cut her off impatiently, "The werewolf girl who got Caroline to go all territorial on Tyler. Why do we care if she's pregnant? Did she..." His jaw suddenly dropped, "Wait, she _did _sleep with Tyler!?"

"No," Elena hissed, shooting another paranoid glance towards the backseat, "And be quiet!"

"Oh, like he's going to wake up anytime soon," Damon grumbled, but he lowered his voice all the same. "So it's not Tyler's baby? Then let me repeat: why should we care?"

She sipped on her bloodbag leisurely, pretending not to notice Damon tapping his foot in anticipation. After a full minute of letting him stew in his own curiosity, she proclaimed, "It's Klaus' baby."

"WHAT?"

The car swerved. "Watch it!"

"Sorry," Damon said hastily, righting the wheel and slowing down so that he could peer down the shady looking road he was supposed to turn onto. "Of course a witch would live down here," he muttered under his breath. Then he turned back to Elena, "But how on earth did Klaus manage _that_?"

"It must be because werewolves can still procreate," Elena realized, "With each other, I mean." Her voice petered out towards the end, sounding wistful. Damon reached over and took her hand, stroking her skin gently. She gave him a small smile and cleared her throat, "So anyway, I guess this means they slept together."

Damon made a disgusted face. "Never say those words again," he shuddered, "I don't need those images in my brain."

"Yeah," Elena frowned, "It's pretty weird, right? I thought Hayley hated Klaus for how he treated his hybrids. Isn't she the one that got Tyler to break the sire bond?"

"Well, as disturbing as all this is, we have other things to worry about right now," Damon nodded up ahead as he pulled to a stop in front of the house. "Looks like Lucy already has company."

"Different car," Elena noted as she stepped outside and looked over at the second car already parked outside the house. "I guess Silas did ditch their other one."

Damon barely spared it a glance before walking purposefully up to the house and raising his fist to the door. "Anybody home?" he called, knocking loudly. "We're lost and we need help."

"Why lie?"

He shrugged, "Why not?"

To his surprise, the door opened immediately after their exchange. Lucy stood there, looking less than pleased to see him. "Damon. Can't say I wasn't expecting you." She looked past him, "And the Gilbert girl, too." Her gaze lingered on Elena interestedly, "You're not human anymore."

"No," she agreed, "I'm not."

"So Katherine is human and you're a vampire. Funny how these things work out, isn't it?"

"Not really," Damon responded flatly, trying to look past her into the house. "Say, that pesky little doppelganger wouldn't be here right now, would she?"

"She was," Lucy crossed her arms, "Along with your brother. But I sent them away to get some supplies. They'll be back shortly."

He stiffened, "My brother? Okay, I need you to listen carefully to me, alright? I know that who you saw may have appeared to look like Stefan, but we're fairly sure that it was Silas. You know who Silas is, I'm assuming?"

"I'd ask you to wait, but somehow I feel like you're here on your own mission?"

Elena exchanged a startled look with Damon. "Sorry," she said cautiously, coming forward. "But I don't think you heard him...That was SILAS who was in your house. He was pretending to be Stefan; he can get into people's heads, make them see who he wants them to see."

"I really shouldn't help you, you know," Lucy sighed, "Katherine told me that you're the one who shoved the cure down her throat."

Elena gaped at her in astonishment. "Damon, can I speak to you over here by the car for a second?"

He quickly clambered back down the stairs and joined her where they would be out of hearing range. "She's been Compelled or something," Damon growled, "It's like she can't even hear us when we speak Silas' name."

"Compelled? But she's a witch," Elena hissed back, "How could this happen?"

"Silas must've messed with her mind somehow," he muttered, "This is going to be harder than I thought."

There were footsteps behind them and they both turned to see Lucy approaching, her gaze fixated on something in their car. "What have you people done to that boy!?"

"Oh, that's Tyler," Elena blurted out, thinking quickly on the spot. "He's actually why we're here. See, we don't know what's happened to him and he won't wake up. We thought maybe he was under a spell or something?"

"Sleeping Beauty?" Lucy asked skeptically, peering at him through the car window. "Very well, I'll see what I can do for him," she turned away and called over her shoulder, "Carry him inside and lay him down on the sofa. I'll get some herbs ready." She paused on the threshold, and added almost as an afterthought, "And I invite you both in, so don't make me regret it."

"Great," Damon slung Tyler over his shoulder and blurred up the stairs and into the house, with Elena at his heels. He looked around suspiciously before laying Tyler down on the sofa. "This better not be a trap."

"Shh," Elena smacked his arm, "Be nice. We have to get on her good side."

He snorted, "It doesn't matter what side we're on; there's no way we can override the Compulsion. She's never going to believe us."

"Let's worry about that later," she whispered back, "We know Katherine and Silas are going to come back here. We'll just have to confront him and find out where Stefan is. That's what's important right now."

Ten minutes later, he and Elena were both seated on armchairs in the living room, watching as Lucy blew incense over Tyler's face. She chanted as she burned some herbs, the smoke hovering over his body before seeping into his pores. Then she closed her eyes and pressed three of her fingers against Tyler's forehead. "This is what I can tell you," she said in a strong voice, "The boy has been spelled. He was sent to find those who sought him out."

"There must be some mistake," Elena hesitated, "We weren't seeking him out, that was Caroline."

"He was sent where he was needed most," Lucy murmured, now laying her whole hand across his forehead. "And it wasn't Caroline who needed him. It was you and Damon."

"The day that I need Lockwood's help for anything—"

Lucy's eyes flew open. "The boy was sent to you as a gift, and whatever purpose he may serve may not be clear now, but it shall become clear in time."

"But who sent him? And why won't he wake up?"

"There are some who wish you to remain without his help. He must fight against their power."

"Power?" Damon immediately honed in on her use of the word, "So what witches are we dealing with exactly?"

Lucy didn't answer, turning her head towards the door. Damon and Elena both stood up, also hearing two pairs of footsteps climbing the stairs outside. The sounds paused for a second, and then the door was pushed open, creaking against its hinges in the sudden silence. The moonlight cast shadows against the two people standing on the threshold, darkness having fallen outside.

Damon stepped forward then, slightly ahead of Elena. He squared his shoulders, raising his head challengingly, "Hello, Silas."

* * *

_bonus **TRIVIA**: name 1) the famous person who said the quote from this chapter's title, or 2) name the supernatural tv show that used this quote in one of their more significant episodes._

**_p.s. __I've moved some of my oneshots and shorter fics to my new livejournal account (tamilnadu09). _**


	11. Fate Works in Mysterious Ways

**a/n: **quite a few people got the trivia questions right last chapter! The quote was originally by Winston Churchill, and the supernatural show that used it was Teen Wolf ;) anyway apologies for the long wait! thank you as always for all your wonderful reviews, and I hope you enjoy the latest installment!

* * *

_SALEM_

_._

_._

Silas eyed Damon speculatively from the doorway, where he stood with Katherine by his side. "What are you doing here, brother?"

"Don't you dare," Damon's voice was low, "What have you done with him?"

"And whom exactly might you be referring to?"

Damon's hands curled into fists, and Elena hastily reached forward to place a warning hand on his elbow. Either he didn't care, or was too far gone to feel it. "My BROTHER, you face-stealing, mind-altering, jackass! WHERE'S STEFAN?"

"It's interesting that you believe I stole his face," Silas mused thoughtfully, taking a step into the house. Katherine scurried in after him, looking frightened. "When, really, you have the story all wrong."

Damon's jaw was clenched, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

He treated them to a secretive smile, one that sent shivers racing down Elena's back. "You are aware of my history, yes?"

"Which bit?" Damon sneered, "The part about Qetsiyah? Or the part where I kill you so that you become a mere footnote in_ history_?"

Silas smirked, folding his hands behind his back and nodding at Katherine to shut the door behind them. She did so, keeping her head down and meekly taking a seat on the couch next to Lucy—who, in any case, did not appear to be aware of the proceedings taking place in front of her.

"I was a warlock," he began, "An extremely powerful one, if I do say so myself."

"Modest, too," Elena muttered under her breath, to which Damon snorted and Silas glared. "Continue, oh great warlock," she demurred, giving him a mock curtsy. "Forgive me for interrupting."

Katherine lifted her head to look at her doppelganger with wide eyes, but Silas' anger seemed to fade and be replaced with faint amusement.

"I created the spell for immortality," he remarked offhandedly, "With the help of Qetsiyah. And as you all know, the only reason she agreed was because she was in love with me and hoped that I would make her immortal as well."

"But you screwed her over," Damon said, waving a hand across the room. "Hence the mess you've made in trying to outsmart the monster you created."

Silas ignored him. "I was in love with another woman who I wished to spend an eternity with.. Qetsiyah was furious, naturally. She murdered the woman I loved and then made the cure for immortality. The rest should be familiar to you. I was imprisoned in that cave with the cure, as she hoped that I would take the cure and die—forever being trapped on the Other Side so she could finally be with me."

"You don't honestly think she still wants you, do you?" Elena asked flippantly, "I mean, not after everything you've _done_."

He tilted his head, "The Five were created to find me, shove the cure down my throat, and kill me. As you can see, Qetsiyah was willing to go to great lengths to get me back."

"We don't care about your women problems," Damon growled, "What does this have to do with Stefan?"

"I'm getting to that part of the story," Silas answered delicately. "So, as I'm sure you know, nature doesn't allow a witch to coexist as a vampire."

Elena and Damon exchanged a glance, both thinking of Bonnie's mother.

"It's why I needed Bonnie—the help of a witch—because I had lost my magic when I became immortal."

"But you still have powers," Damon interjected, proving that he wasn't as oblivious to the story as he appeared to be. "The ability to mess with people's minds, make them see what you want them to see."

"Yes," Silas agreed, but didn't elaborate. "Bonnie, as a descendant of Qetsiyah, was a powerful witch. I knew she would be able to tap into enough power to destroy the veil separating our world from the Other Side." He shrugged, "And once that distinction ceased to exist, I would be able to take the cure, die, and be reunited with the woman I loved instead of being trapped with..."

"The woman you scorned."

Silas glanced at Damon, "Right."

"So you followed us off the island," Elena began counting on her fingers, "Convinced Bonnie to kill 12 witches to finish the Expression Triangle, emptied out the blood banks of all the local hospitals—"

"I hadn't had a drop of blood in over 2000 years," Silas retorted, "What did you expect?" When no one answered him, he continued. "With a little help from the blonde vampire...what was her name?"

"Caroline Forbes," Damon responded stiffly. "You know, the girl you forced to become a mass murderer."

"Right," Silas said again, looking pleased. "Yes, well, Caroline saving Bonnie's life and killing the linked witches completed the Expression Triangle, and I had everything I needed to destroy the veil." He paused, "I'm not sure how much you know of what happened afterwards."

Elena crossed her arms, "Are we getting to the part that involves Stefan?"

"Even though the Triangle was complete, I still wasn't in possession of the cure," Silas explained, "So I went to Klaus and threatened him with the white oak stake, telling him to bring me the cure. He refused, so I used my abilities to make him believe I had embedded a piece of the stake into his back. Needless to say, he was in unbearable agony."

"How were you able to fool an Original?" Damon's eyes narrowed, "You make it seem like you have no powers, and yet..."

"He shouldn't have been so easy to fool," Silas snapped back, whirling around. "He should've known the white oak stake was indestructible, yet his mind was weak enough to believe I had somehow _broken _a piece of it off. It's his own fault for being so gullible, so..._human_."

"Caroline helped him," Elena frowned, "He called her for help and she inadvertently made him realize it was all in his head." She scuffed her boot back and forth along the carpet absentmindedly. "Katherine had the cure, of course. Not Klaus. She was using it as a bargaining chip for her freedom. She offered it to him in exchange for information about a plot brewing against him in New Orleans."

Silas listened carefully before continuing, "It was his brother that I eventually took the cure from. Elijah was in possession of it, as Katherine had handed it over to him. He offered to give it to Rebekah if she could live a day as a human, and I was able to fool him into thinking I was his sister dearest."

"But Bonnie came to her senses," Damon pointed out, "About helping you."

"She tried to hide from me," Silas raised his voice, for the first time looking truly angry. "That was foolish of her. She had already promised to destroy the veil; she shouldn't have tried to go back on her word."

"So you tormented Caroline to find her."

"Bonnie came to Caroline's house that night, and recognized that I had used my abilities to disguise myself as the sheriff. I thought I had convinced her to follow through on our plan...it was only later that I realized she wanted Qetsiyah to help her kill me."

Damon straightened, now clearly paying attention. "That's what she was trying to do in the basement of the school—when she found the center of the Triangle." His gaze hardened, "I was there when she turned you to stone, when she finally stopped you."

Silas' expression flickered, "An impressive show of power, I will admit. But then she went and got herself killed, didn't she?" His eyes glinted, "And it was all for nothing."

"Don't say that," Elena hissed, her fingertips pressing into her skin as she fought to control her emotions. "Don't you dare say that."

"I came back to life after she closed the veil," Silas murmured, now getting to the part of the story that Damon and Elena had been waiting for. "Stefan had been driving towards the quarry to dump my body. He didn't realize what had happened till he got out of the car and found that my body bag was empty, filled with nothing but rocks."

Damon suddenly turned away, looking stricken, "I should've gone with him."

Silas' face contorted cruelly, "Perhaps so. But you were too busy with your new girlfriend to give a damn about Stefan, weren't you?"

"Don't," Elena said to Damon, holding up a hand so that he wouldn't retaliate. "We need to hear the rest of the story." She took a deep breath, composing herself. "So he realized you weren't there anymore," she prompted, "Then what?"

"I made myself known," Silas' voice changed, becoming more dramatic now that he knew the room was hanging onto his every word. "I took the form of you, actually, Elena."

Elena blinked several times, "Why me? Are you...another Tatia doppelganger?"

He gave a short laugh, "Stefan thought the same thing. But no, I am not. I revealed my true self to him, just as I've revealed my true self to all of you."

"And when exactly did you do that?" Damon demanded, "We haven't seen you in anything other than this mask of my brother's that you've been parading around town."

Silas tilted his head, "And you still haven't gotten it? Pity, I thought you were the smart one, Damon."

"No," Elena breathed, arriving at the horrifying conclusion at the same time that it hit Damon. "You're not...no, it's impossible!"

"Funny thing about nature," Silas commented blithely, "There always needs to be a balance. I couldn't just _be _immortal, you know. There had to be a loophole."

"Which was what?" Damon asked roughly, his voice thick with barely suppressed rage. "What have you done with my brother?"

"There had to be a doppelganger...a shadow self...so that I could never truly die." Silas met Damon's gaze, "Stefan."

Elena stormed forward then, past Damon. "What you're saying is ridiculous," she raged, "Stefan is Damon's BROTHER. They grew up together, they became vampires together, they've—"

"Destined, perhaps," Silas interrupted, "To become a vampire."

Katherine finally stood up, her face horrified. "You mean to say," she choked out, "That you killed him?"

Silas frowned, "Of course not. I told you before he was...safe. And I meant it."

"You never said that, all you would tell me is that he wasn't dead!"

"And wasn't that good enough?" Silas shot back, "You should be thanking me on bended knees that I didn't kill him!"

"Silas, I'm only going to ask you this one more time," Damon said in a deceptively calm voice, "Where is Stefan?"

"Safe."

Elena grabbed Damon's arm suddenly, panic washing over her features. "Oh my god."

"What?" He looked around wildly, "What is it?"

_[Jeremy pointed, kneeling down onto the ground. "See these fresh tire tracks? Someone was here just before us...And see this? Someone already dragged something heavy up to the edge. I guess he must've already finished the job...It doesn't look like a woman's footprints. It looks like another guy. See how it's similar to Stefan's?"]_

"When me and Jeremy went to go look for Stefan at the quarry," Elena stumbled over her words, fear causing her heart to constrict until she felt like she couldn't breathe. "He...see, he notices stuff now, because he's a Hunter."

"Elena, you're not making any sense," Damon's brow was furrowed as he looked at her, grasping her shoulders. "What are you talking about?"

"He noticed," she said again, trembling violently. "The marks on the ground...he said it looked like something heavy had been dragged up to the edge already and shoved off. So I thought...I mean, we thought Stefan had already gotten rid of Silas..."

Damon's eyes darted quickly back and forth, the grip on her shoulders becoming almost painful as he arrived at the same conclusion she had. Katherine gasped a second later, clapping her hand over her mouth. "You didn't!" she cried out, "You said he was safe!"

Silas laughed out loud, "Well, he's _in _a safe...if that counts."

Elena's lips felt numb and she had to force the words out, "You...locked him in a safe...and...shoved him into the quarry...to drown?"

"He's a vampire, you see," Silas answered cheerfully, "So he can't die."

The look on Damon's face was beyond murderous. "No," he said slowly, "He'll just drown repeatedly, desiccating away from lack of blood, while you took his place so that we would never know he was gone."

"That was the general idea, yes." Silas said crossly, "But apparently I didn't do as good a job of playing my doppelganger as I thought."

"Damon knew," Elena cut in fiercely, "As soon as you dropped by the house with the news about Bonnie. He knew."

_[__Damon narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean by 'that witch'? I've never heard you refer to Bonnie by anything other than her name before."_

_"Y__ou won't be needing to think of nicknames for her anymore...Well, except for what you plan to write on her gravestone, of course...I was thinking '____loving daughter, friend, witch...__has a nice ring to it."_  


_"What the hell is wrong with you?" Damon hissed, "You're not even going to stay to help us find a witch to bring Bonnie back?"]__  
_

"Did he?" Silas asked unconcernedly, "Katherine figured it out once we hit the road as well." He shrugged, "What can I say? I just don't have Stefan's patience in dealing with you lot." He leaned conspiratorially towards Damon, "Between you and me, can I just say that I think Mystic Falls breeds its very own brand of utter stupidity?"

"I'm going to go rescue Stefan," Damon responded flatly, "Then we're going to come back and kill you."

Silas took a seat, lounging backwards into the cushions. "Believe me, nothing would give me greater pleasure than being able to find peace with the woman I love. But, as you know, the cure for immortality is gone, thanks to your boneheaded girlfriend over there."

Elena gritted her teeth, "Now you're blaming your existence on me? You're the one that was stupid enough to ask for true immortality, it's time for you to deal with the consequences."

"I have been dealing, sweetheart," Silas said condescendingly, "For 2000 years."

Katherine abruptly lurched forward and grabbed Damon's wrist. "Silas wanted to find Lucy because she's a Bennett witch—another descendant of Qetsiyah. He wants her to help him create another cure for immortality. _Then _he wants to drink it after she lowers the veil."

Damon closed his eyes, massaging his temples with two fingers. "Let me get this straight," he said finally, "Your whole plan is basically the old plan, just with a different witch?" He shot a glare towards Lucy, "Did you agree to this?"

"She's been..." Katherine's voice petered out, "Well, I don't know exactly. Silas did something to her. Screwed up her mind somehow."

"So you're saying that she's going to go along with the plan, even though it's going to unleash hell on earth?" Elena said disbelievingly, "Silas, you can't do this!"

He tilted his head at her, looking genuinely confused. "I would've thought you would be able to see my perspective this time around, Elena. Isn't your best friend trapped on the Other Side as we speak? Don't you want to free her?"

"Yes, of course I want to bring her back! But I would never agree to what you're planning, Silas." She narrowed her eyes at him, "Never."

"Well, it's going to happen," he said blandly, "Whether you agree with it or not. And, in case you two are getting any bright ideas, I'll be keeping all of you captive until the plan has reached completion."

"Right," Damon scoffed, "Come on, Elena. We're leaving." He took a single step towards the door, but Silas moved faster than the blink of an eye. When Elena saw Damon again, he was resting in a heap on the ground, his neck clearly broken.

"Next time it'll be a stake to the heart," Silas warned, pointing towards the sofa. "Take a seat next to your human doppelganger, Elena. None of you are going anywhere any time soon."

She didn't move, "But what about Stefan?"

Silas waved a hand dismissively, "Trust me, he's not going anywhere either."

"But...but..." Elena sputtered, "He's DROWNING!"

"Yes, drowning," Silas agreed coldly, "Not dying. Take a seat."

"He's suffering, I can't just—"

A stake appeared in his hand, poised inches away from her heart. "Speak again, and it'll be the last thing you do." Elena fell silent. Silas stared at her for a long moment before stepping away, back towards Lucy. "Place a spell on the door," he ordered her, "So no one can leave."

Katherine's shoulders slumped forward, clearly dismayed. "Silas, this isn't necessary."

"Oh, I think it is."

Lucy raised both hands towards the door, her eyes glazing over as she performed the spell. A simple golden light streamed from her fingertips and ran alongside the edge of the front door, zipping in a rectangular pattern several times before there was a loud _pop! _and the light faded away. "It is done," she intoned, "No one may enter and no one may leave."

Silas smiled, satisfied. "You two go upstairs," he said to Elena and Katherine. "Lucy and I will be in the basement, working on the spell for the cure."

Elena hesitated, glancing down at Damon's crumpled form. "What about him?"

"Take him upstairs with you, or leave him lying on the ground. It doesn't much matter to me."

She pursed her lips and hauled Damon to his feet before blurring up the stairs and into the first bedroom she could find. She gently laid Damon on the bed, and turned to see Katherine enter the room behind her, looking slightly out of breath from racing up the stairs. "Thanks for coming."

Elena paused, listening to the sounds downstairs. When she was confident Silas was out of hearing range, she nodded. "Damon saw your clue hidden in the soap. Good thinking."

Katherine smiled faintly, "I knew Damon would figure it out." Then her smile faded, "What now?"

"I have no idea," Elena patted her pockets and pulled out her cell phone. "Luckily I still have this, so we can call Caroline to tell her to rescue..." She paused, her eyebrows deepening into a frown. "Damn."

"What? Is it dead?"

She shook her head, "It says no signal. That's odd. It was working fine outside."

"Must be part of the spell," Katherine remarked gloomily, "No outside communication."

Elena scowled, moving toward the only window in the room and raising up the glass so they could get some fresh air. She wistfully pressed her hand against the net, her skin hitting an invisible barrier. She sighed, "Lucy is certainly thorough."

"She's a good witch."

"Must be why Silas wants her," Elena turned away from the window, but halted when she heard a rustling from outside. It was very faint, and she almost certainly wouldn't have heard it without her enhanced senses. "Someone's out there."

Katherine hastily backed away from the window, "Oh god, we're going to die in here, aren't we?"

Elena tuned her out distractedly, "No one can get in, remember?" Then she lowered her voice so that no human would be able to hear, and no supernatural creature either—not unless they were listening for it. "Who's out there?" she asked, barely moving her lips, her voice coming out in the barest of whispers.

Another rustle, then...

Tyler.

Elena's mouth dropped open as the familiar figure stepped out from behind a tree in the distance, his finger raised to his lips. He raised his cell phone in her direction, a questioning look on his face. She shook her head, trying to signal to him that her phone wasn't working. She squinted, watching as a contemplative look crossed his face. "What do you want me to do?"

"Stefan is in a safe at the bottom of the quarry," she whispered, and she saw him tilt his head towards her so that he could hear. "Get back to Mystic Falls. Tell Caroline and Jeremy what's going on. We're going to need help to get out of this mess."

When she was done, he nodded, flashing her two thumbs up to show that he had gotten the message. She made a shooing motion with her hands, urging him to get away before Silas or Lucy noticed anything was amiss. He nodded again and then sped off down the road, disappearing from sight almost immediately.

"What was Tyler doing here?" Katherine murmured, almost at Elena's ear. "Did you bring him with you?"

"Long story," Elena sank down onto the bed, next to Damon's unconscious form. "Tyler found us on the highway when we were on the way to Salem. He had been spelled by some witches, according to Lucy. He must've snuck out of the house when you and Silas arrived." She trailed off thoughtfully, "I wonder when he woke up."

[_"This is what I can tell you...The boy has been spelled. He was sent to find those who sought him out."_

_"There must be some mistake...We weren't seeking him out, that was Caroline."_

_"He was sent where he was needed most...whatever purpose he may serve may not be clear now, but it shall become clear in time."]_

"It doesn't matter," Katherine said anxiously, "As long as he gets to Stefan before it's too late."

"And as long as he gets help before it's too late," Elena closed her eyes, rubbing her hands across her face. "All our fates rest in his hands now."

* * *

_NEW ORLEANS_

_._

_._

Caroline woke up groggily, fumbling on the nightstand to look at her cell phone. Her eyes twinged painfully as the bright light hit her irises, and she squinted at the blaring time on her phone. **3:07 AM.**

The knocking on her door became more insistent, and she turned to stare at it in confusion. "Jeremy?" she hissed at the door, "What are you doing?" She stumbled out of bed, haphazardly throwing on a silk bathrobe and flipping on the light switch before pulling the door open.

And then promptly attempted to slam the door shut.

Klaus threw an arm out to stop her, "Caroline, we have to talk."

"Whatever you have to say, it can be said in the morning," she snapped, pushing against the door with all her strength. Unfortunately, it didn't budge.

"I'm taking a great risk even coming here to speak to you," Klaus hissed, "There are things going on here that you don't understand!"

"Yes, you've mentioned that before," Caroline said grumpily, giving up on the door and moving away with crossed arms. He hastily let himself in, shutting the door quietly behind him and then flipping off the light.

"Hey! What are you—"

"Shh!" There was a click and then a tiny flame appeared across the room, illuminating Klaus' face. She moved closer, squinting until she could see the cigarette lighter in his hand. "No one can know I'm here," he murmured, "It would put your life and the life of anyone you care about in grave danger."

Caroline glared, "Then maybe you should leave."

"I know you're upset." Klaus hastily held up a hand as she took several furious steps towards him. "No, hear me out, Caroline. I'm not insinuating that you're jealous, and I don't mean to imply that you're upset with me for sleeping with Hayley. I know you're not any of those things." He glanced quickly up at her, "Because for that to be true, you would have to care for me. And I know you don't."

She didn't reply.

"But we are friends." He hesitated then, "Or we were, in a manner of speaking. And friends shouldn't keep secrets from each other."

Caroline stared at him, lost in thought as she watched the tiny flames from the lighter dance across his face, shadows flickering in and out of his eyes as he spoke. "I didn't come here for you," she finally said, her voice void of emotion; detached. "I came here because my friend needs help. Bonnie didn't deserve to die and we need those witches to help us. Her idea from last night was a good one. I hope you didn't come here to talk me out of it."

Klaus' face fell, proving that _was _indeed why he had come to her door at three in the morning. Inexplicably, Caroline felt a fresh surge of rage. "Get out."

He looked up at her, anger flashing in his gaze. "I'm trying to save you, Caroline! You don't want to be here, trust me!"

"Trust you?" She repeated incredulously, "God, I can't even look at you right now!"

Klaus grabbed her wrist as she turned away, hauling her back towards him until they were inches apart. "Marcel doesn't like things he can't control," he snarled, "Therefore, he does not like _you_. He and his minions will be at every corner, watching your every move. He can _never _know that you were here to get his witches to practice magic. He will kill you without batting an eyelid, I've seen it happen. Caroline, please—"

"No, no, let go!" She snatched her hand out of his grasp, but didn't move away. She could feel the flame near her face, heating her skin. "I'm not scared of Marcel, and I'm not scared of Sophie, and I'm sure as hell not scared of you! I need to do this, don't you understand? I need to do this for Bonnie, because she's my best friend, and she _died _to bring Jeremy back to life, and we've all lost so many people, and—and I can't..." A sob escaped her lips, "I can't let everyone down, don't you see?"

Then she broke down completely, her hand clamped over her mouth to stifle her sobs. After a second, there was a click as Klaus let go of the lighter, and then they were standing in complete darkness. She blinked once, and she saw Klaus's silhouette move away, towards the door. Then he paused, his back to her. She could see the tension in the way he held his shoulders, hunched together. He didn't want to be here, that much was clear.

"Go," she whispered, the tears making her voice thick. "Starting tomorrow morning, Bonnie will follow around Marcel when you're not around. She'll be with him whenever he's with his little inner-circle and she'll be with him whenever he's alone. One way or another, she's going to find out how he's controlling the witches. And once she does, we'll have something they want. Then they'll have no choice but to help us."

"Caroline..."

"It's a good idea," she swallowed against the the gnawing pain in her throat that came with unshed tears. "You didn't disagree with it in front of Elijah, so don't come to me in the middle of the night and try to get me to change my mind!"

"That's not what...that's not why—" He broke off, sounding frustrated. "Why won't you ever listen to reason!?"

She gritted her teeth, her eyes beginning to shimmer. She didn't _want _to cry in front of Klaus; she refused to show him any more weakness. "And why won't you ever listen to me when I tell you to leave?"

She couldn't see his facial expression, but she felt the sudden whoosh of air as he blurred away from the door until he was towering over her. She looked up at him, only able to see his eyes glistening in the darkness. "Caroline," he breathed her name, almost a sigh. Then he wrapped his arms around her in an embrace, one hand resting against her head. Before she had time to process what was happening, he was gone, as if he had never been there in the first place.

Caroline took an uncertain step towards the door, her fingers finding the lock and turning it until she heard a satisfying click. She had just reached her bed and gotten under the covers when her phone buzzed loudly, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She grabbed it hurriedly, glancing only briefly at the unknown number. "Hello?"

"Care?"

Her eyes widened with shock, "Tyler?"


	12. The Cure

**A/N: **thank you to everyone who's been reading and reviewing, your support here and on twitter means so much to me! for those keeping track, there should be about 3 more chapters after this one. "Through the Looking Glass" will start getting updated regularly after I finish this fic, since I want to get this one done before the new TVD season starts :) enjoy!

* * *

_SALEM_

_._

_._

Damon sleepily opened his eyes, a smile forming on his lips when he saw Elena lying next to him. His smile faded, however, as he studied the paleness of her skin and the dark circles under her eyes. She looked utterly exhausted, even in sleep.

He turned around slowly, intending not to jostle the bed as he got out so that she could continue resting. When he had successfully flipped to his left, however, he nearly leapt out of his skin at the sight of Elena lounging in front of him. She smirked at him when she saw his reaction.

"What the—" He sputtered before scrambling out of bed, "What the hell is going on here!?"

Katherine popped both eyes open and grinned over at Elena, the two of them exchanging a high five as Damon scowled at them, realizing he had been played. "Hey there, sleepyhead," Elena greeted, getting out of bed and kissing him sweetly on the cheek. "How are you feeling?"

Damon unconsciously rubbed his neck, feeling the lingering sensation of an ache that had healed. "So I get my neck snapped, and you two suddenly decide to become BFFs and play a prank on _me_?" He glowered at Elena, "Your _boyfriend_?"

She giggled, in a suspiciously good mood given the current circumstances. "Just a harmless prank," she reassured him, standing on her tiptoes and brushing her lips against his until he begrudgingly returned the kiss. "There isn't exactly a lot of entertainment when you're locked in a house with no form of outside communication, anyway."

Damon looked at her sharply, "Locked in?"

"Silas and Lucy are in the basement doing the spell to make another cure for immortality," Katherine supplied, raising herself on her elbows so she could answer him. Damon gazed at her, realizing why he had thought Elena looked different. "What?' she asked self-consciously when she noticed him staring. "Don't look at my hair, the humidity in this place is ridiculous!"

"Humanity really doesn't agree with you," he said after a minute, his frown deepening. "Are you sick or something?"

"She's just tired," Elena said, and Damon was surprised to detect a note of sympathy in her voice. "Silas has been dragging her cross country with barely any sleep or food. And she's probably been in a constant state of fear—believe me, I get it."

If Katherine was surprised to hear Elena speak on her behalf, she didn't show it. Her eyelids drooped sleepily as she murmured something unintelligible in response. Damon's brow furrowed, "Did she say something about Lockwood?"

"Oh yeah," Elena perked up, though she lowered her voice at the same time, shooting a paranoid glance at the door. "Tyler escaped before Lucy put the spell on the door! Me and Kat saw him by the window when we got up here, and I was able to tell him to go get help—"

"For _Stefan_, right?" Damon interrupted forcefully, "You better have told him to go rescue Stefan!"

"I did, I did," she responded hastily, knowing that he was on edge. "I told him where Stefan was, and to let Caroline and Jeremy know what was going on."

"Good," he closed his eyes and leaned back against the door. "I didn't mean to yell at you."

"I know," she stroked his shoulder, giving him a worried smile. "Are you sure you're okay? You were out of it for a while."

"It takes longer to heal when you haven't been drinking enough blood," Damon explained, trying to recall when he and Elena had last fed. "Silas have any blood bags lying around?"

"Not that he mentioned," she said, keeping her tone light despite the situation. "He's not a very good host."

"Yeah, doesn't seem like it," Damon agreed, "I think even Klaus and Elijah were better at the whole wining and dining thing."

She patted his chest with a grin, "Well, you be sure to tell them that the next time you see them."

He heaved an exaggerated sigh, "Well, if nothing else, at least we have a back-up blood source."

Elena looked confused for a second, before her eyes widened as she realized what he was talking about. "No," she said firmly, "Don't even joke about that, Damon. We're not going to feed on her!"

He glanced over Elena's shoulder to make sure that Katherine was still sleeping. "She's practically wasting away, anyway. How long do you really think she can survive without food?"

"Long enough," Elena replied evenly. "Tyler will come through, I know he will."

Damon's mouth tightened, "He wouldn't exactly be my first choice if I was sending out a rescue brigade."

"We don't know what he's been through since he's been on the run," she chastised, "Have a little faith, Damon."

* * *

_NEW ORLEANS_

_._

_._

Jeremy lay on his side, resting his head against his elbow. "Thanks for staying with me tonight."

Bonnie smiled back at him, though her expression was tinged with sadness. "Don't thank me. I wanted to." She reached out for his face, but stopped short when her hand was an inch away. She let her arm fall silently back to her side.

"I know," he whispered, "I wish I could touch you, too." He halfheartedly let his index finger run down the curve of her shoulder, watching as his hand went through her as if she wasn't there at all. Jeremy sighed, flopping back down onto the bed. "It's not fair."

"Life's not fair," Bonnie agreed, turning onto her back so that she was mimicking his pose. "It's weird, you know," she mulled, "I can feel the bed I'm lying on, but it doesn't feel like a bed at all...it feels more like a cloud, or maybe like some feathers..."

Jeremy absentmindedly scrunched the sheets beneath his fingers as he listened to her describe her otherworldly experience, and a sudden thought occurred to him. "Can you at least feel other ghosts?"

Her voice sounded confused when she answered, "You mean, can I feel their presence?"

"Yes, no..." He hesitated, "No, that's not I meant. I mean...can you _feel _them?"

Bonnie involuntarily shivered—a human reaction, more than anything—as she remembered Kol earlier that night. "I didn't think so," she finally said, realizing that Jeremy was waiting for her response. "But then...yeah, I guess you can. Sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Jeremy echoed, sounding uncertain. "Like when?"

"Like when you want to?" She shifted uncomfortably, "Can we talk about something else?"

"Hey," he abruptly turned to face her, his tone becoming serious. "I know you, and I know when you're being evasive. What's going on, Bonnie? Is there something I should know about?"

"No, it's nothing."

Jeremy sat up, now looking angry. "Haven't you done this enough?" he demanded, "Keeping secrets because you think you're _protecting _everyone? Isn't this how we got into this mess in the first place!?"

Bonnie sighed, also sitting up so that she could face him. "You have a lot going on," she said quietly, "I didn't want to worry you, especially when there's nothing you can do about it."

"Nothing I can do about _what_?"

She took a deep breath, debating how much to tell him. One look at his face, however, was enough to convince her that he wouldn't be satisfied with anything less than the truth. "Kol," she admitted, "I can feel him."

Jeremy tensed instantly, and even in the darkness, she could see the muscles bulging from underneath his shirt. "You saw Kol?"

"Earlier tonight. When you guys were looking for Caroline near Bourbon Street." Bonnie drew her knees up to her chest, knowing what Jeremy was thinking. "He didn't hurt me. Not physically, anyway. It's not like he can."

Jeremy's jaw was clenched, "I'll kill him."

She smiled in spite of herself, "He's already dead. That's kinda the whole point of this, remember?" She gestured between them as she spoke, watching as his face fell. "Don't worry, Jer. I can take care of myself. What's the worst he can do to me?"

"I don't even want to know," Jeremy muttered in response, rubbing his hands over his face. "Promise me you'll be careful. Kol is out for vengeance, and I just know that he's going to—"

"JEREMY!"

He jumped, nearly knocking over the bedside lamp as he ungainly fell out of bed, somehow getting twisted in the covers. "Care?" he shouted as he stumbled towards the door, his fingers fumbling with the light switch. "Are you okay?"

"Just open the door!"

Now that he could see, he hastily slid open the lock and pulled the door open to see a disheveled-looking Caroline on his doorstep. Her hair was in a messy ponytail, she was sans makeup, and she was wearing a large T-shirt he didn't recognize over an unflattering pair of sweatpants.

Something was very wrong.

"Caroline?' he asked cautiously, taking a step backwards into his room so that she could come in. "What's going on?"

"We have to go," she stammered, hurriedly closing the door behind her and grabbing his forearms. "Jer, we have to go back to Mystic Falls _right now!" _

"Mystic Falls!?" Jeremy exclaimed, glancing over at his bed and frowning when he noticed that Bonnie was no longer there. "What are you talking about? We're here to get help from the witches, remember?"

"The...the witches?" Caroline came to a standstill, the only movement coming from her eyes as her pupils darted back and forth frantically, almost as if she was looking for an escape route. "Oh god," she whispered after a few moments, "What are we going to do?"

He took her by the elbow and guided her to his bed without any resistance, momentarily taken aback at the utterly lost expression in her eyes. His own nervousness kicked in at the thought of what could have possibly driven her to act this way.

When she was seated, he reluctantly crouched down on the ground in front of her. The difference in their heights was so much, however, that he was still nearly at her eye level. When she met his gaze, he gently reached out to touch her knee. "Okay, Caroline, tell me what happened."

"Tyler," she answered blankly, "He called."

Jeremy felt a spark of annoyance, "You want to go running back to Mystic Falls just because your boyfriend is back?"

"No!" Caroline cried out vehemently, "It's Stefan!"

"Oh, Tyler found Stefan? That's great news! I bet Damon and Elena are so..." He trailed off, belatedly realizing that her current state of emotional well-being wasn't an appropriate reaction to the situation. "Is he..." Jeremy swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. "Is he dead?"

She shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. "Silas, he..." Her voice was hoarse as she forced herself to continue, "He locked Stefan in a safe and tossed him into the quarry to drown...th-that's where he's been all this time. Drowning."

Jeremy stared at her, horrified. "Drowning? Over and over again?" He fell back on his heels, his mind conjuring up repulsive images of what they would find when they pulled Stefan out of the water. "How...how did Tyler find him?"

"He didn't," Caroline folded her hands now, apparently very interested in examining her nails. "Damon and Elena are trapped in Lucy's house. Silas is there, and so is Katherine. Tyler managed to escape."

"Trapped!?" Jeremy shot to his feet, "With Silas? Why didn't you mention that before!? We need to get to Elena!"

"But what about Stefan!?"

Jeremy opened his mouth to respond, but a shadow in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned to see Bonnie standing near the door, her eyes pleading. "What about our plan to find out what Marcel is hiding?" she asked him desperately, "This is my only chance—_our_ only chance!"

"Oh god, I don't know what to do," Jeremy sank down onto the bed next to Caroline, grabbing his hair roughly as he buried his face between his knees. "How can we be everywhere at once? It's impossible."

"We can't," she said bleakly, "We have to choose."

"We're going to have to split up," Jeremy realized, "You can go back to Mystic Falls for Stefan, and I'll go to Salem to find Elena, and—"

"No," Caroline gripped his wrist, "We're not splitting up."

_[Elena turned to look at Caroline, "You'll keep him safe?"_

_"Of course," their eyes met briefly, the old threads of friendship sputtering back to life. Caroline's gaze grew serious, "With my life._

___"Well, hopefully it doesn't come to that," Damon interrupted. "Klaus will protect you from the witches...and if nothing else, at least Elijah is down there. He'll make sure nothing happens to you two."_]

"What?" Jeremy demanded angrily, "Why not?"

"Strength in numbers," she snapped back, "We're sticking together, deal with it."

"Well then, what's your bright idea?" He rose to his feet, throwing his arms out in exasperation. "Because we don't exactly have a lot of options here, Caroline!"

She looked up at him, towering above her—and her mind inexplicably flashed back to Klaus, looming over her in almost the exact same manner. "No," she responded slowly, "We do have options." She met Jeremy's gaze, "There are people here. People who will help us." _  
_

Jeremy snorted, "What people, Caroline? They want to see us out of this town, don't you get that?"

"I know," she said as she stood up with a renewed sense of purpose, "But you're underestimating them."

He met her gaze, his tone harsh. "They're not our friends."

"Maybe not ours," Caroline agreed, "But Klaus and Stefan share a bond that neither of us will ever understand. As for Elijah...he cares for Katherine and Elena. It's time to tell him the truth about what happened with the cure."

"No," Jeremy refuted immediately, "We swore that would keep Katherine's humanity a secret. It's Elena's only trump card—the threat of Klaus was the _only _reason that Kat wasn't wreaking havoc!"

"I know, but now they're both in danger. What do you want to do, Jeremy? Honor your sister's wishes or save her life?"

.

.

**4:19AM**

Klaus opened his door and stared at Caroline, growing increasingly worried as he took in her appearance. His gaze lingered on her shirt, however, and he felt a stab of annoyance. "You're coming to me for help wearing Tyler's clothes? Do you take me for a fool, Caroline?"

Her mouth opened in shock, then closed again as she looked down at what she was wearing. She grasped the hem of the oversized T-shirt and stared down at it as if she'd never seen it before. "I didn't...I didn't realize..."

She was telling the truth, that much was clear. He leaned against the side of the door, trying to hold onto his earlier anger. "The last time I saw you—an hour ago, I might add—you were throwing me out of your room. Tell me why I should listen to you now?"

"Because..." she began, her watery gaze flickering away as her fingers tugged nervously back and forth along the hemline of her shirt. "Because I...I don't have anyone else to turn to."

Klaus heaved a sigh, fully knowing he was going to regret this decision later. "Alright," he said begrudgingly, stepping backwards and opening the door further. "Come in, Caroline."

She did, her eyes darting around the room and fixating on a small lamp in the corner, the only source of light in the otherwise darkened room. She walked towards it, almost as if in a trance. "Do you remember when I called you last week?"

He stared at her hard, wondering if she was intentionally trying to piss him off. "You mean when you asked me to find Tyler for you? _That _particular phone call?"

Caroline turned around suddenly, her eyes wide. "Forget about Tyler, I know where he is now. This is about Stefan."

"Yes, you mentioned that he was missing and I told you that he had probably left Mystic Falls rather than stick around and watch his brother romance his former girlfriend." When she looked surprised, he shrugged. "I remember all of our conversations, love."

She swallowed, taking a step away from the lamp and towards him. Darkness flickered over her features as she neared him, her hand outstretched as though she was going to touch his chest, though she stopped several inches away. "Silas is back, and he's forcing Lucy Bennett to create another cure for him. Damon, Elena, and Katherine are trapped by a spell in Lucy's house...in Salem."

Klaus gaped at her.

"And Stefan," she took a deep shuddering breath, "Is locked in a safe at the bottom of the quarry in Mystic Falls. Silas left him there to drown. Tyler is on his way there now, but he's going to need help. Who knows what Stefan will be like after desiccating in a box all summer..." She shivered miserably, "I can't even imagine."

"You want me to leave New Orleans?" Klaus had lowered his voice, and she nearly had to strain to hear him. "Right in the middle of...everything that's happening?" Caroline's eyes flashed and she started to take a step away from him, but he grabbed her wrist to stop her. "No, listen to me," he hissed, "For once in your life, will you just listen!?"

"Are you going to help him or not?" she hissed back, "I would've gone straight to Elijah, but I thought—I thought—oh, forget it!" She angrily yanked her arm out of his grasp, but he blurred to the door to block her exit. "Let me go."

"Not until you hear me out, Caroline."

She actually stomped her foot, "We're wasting time!"

"I can't leave," Klaus grabbed both her wrists this time, effectively stopping all her movements. "Sophie won't let me, and neither will Elijah for that matter." He used his hold on Caroline's wrists to bring her closer, until she was only an inch away. "Sophie has control over Hayley—and my son—and that's why I'm playing along with this whole Marcel charade. Once he lets me in on the secret of how he's controlling the witches, Sophie will be able to break his hold over them and she'll let Hayley go."

Her expression didn't change. "We already agreed that Bonnie was going to follow around Marcel, so you can't use that excuse."

Klaus groaned, letting go of her and clenching his hands into fists. "Why can't you understand? I've spent all this time convincing Marcel that I'm back for good—it'll be too suspicious if I just go running back to Mystic Falls! And Elijah...he's not going to leave either. He cares more for this baby and Hayley's fate than I do. Elijah is desperate for family, for a legacy. He won't let anything or anyone get in the way of that."

Caroline straightened, finally seeing the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. "Not even for Katherine?"

"Elijah already chose family over Katherine. Why else do you think he is here in New Orleans, and not with her?"

She smiled calmly, "But what if I told him that his precious _Katerina_ was back?"

Klaus looked confused, "Back where?"

"Back _human." _

The floorboard behind them creaked, and Klaus whirled around, flinging open the door. Elijah stood there, clearly having heard every single word.


	13. Saving a Salvatore

**A/N: **everyone seemed so excited to find out what happened next that I was inspired to write this in less than a week ;) enjoy!

* * *

_SALEM_

_._

_._

Elena sat in the corner of the room, her hands on her ears as the thunder became deafening. "Oh god, make it stop!"

Damon was sitting on the floor near her, his head leaning against the wall. "You have to learn to shut it out," he said hoarsely, "Focus, Elena."

"But it's so loud," she flinched as another bout of lightening flashed into the bedroom, accompanied by several rumbles of thunder. "I feel like my head is going to split open!"

Katherine was lying on her stomach across the bed, though she was upside down so that her feet were on the pillow and she could face them. "Maybe there's one perk to being human after all," she said, her voice neither smug nor taunting. Instead, she merely sounded exhausted—as if the very act of speaking was draining the last of her energy. "How long have we been locked in here?"

"No idea," Elena answered, and Damon turned to look at her in concern. Although she had looked different from Katherine earlier, now they both held the same pallor color with identical dark circles under their eyes. It was ironic that both a lack of blood and a lack of food led to the same results, vampire and human alike.

"It's easy to lose track of time," Damon agreed, realizing that they were waiting for him to say something. He gazed out the window as a nearly perfect lightning bolt streaked across the sky, and he reached out to hold Elena's hand before the next unearthly boom of thunder sounded. "You guys know this isn't a normal thunderstorm, right?"

"Witchcraft," Katherine mumbled, "Yeah, it's obvious." She tried to lean up against one elbow, but gave up the effort after only a few seconds. "Messing with nature," she said instead, leaving Elena to figure out what she was trying to say.

"Silas and Lucy," Damon explained when Elena continued to look confused, "The spell for the cure draws a tremendous amount of power from nature itself. It's unnatural, see. To change the very essence of who you are."

Elena's grip on his hand was borderline painful—and had he been human, she almost certainly would've broken the bones in his hand. When she spoke, however, she was whispering. "So does this storm mean that they're succeeding in the spell? That they're almost finished?"

"Sounds like it."

Elena groaned, licking her dry lips and trying to focus on anything other than the slow beat of Katherine's heart. "What are we going to do then? Once they make the cure, Silas is going to force Lucy to drop the veil to the Other Side again—and she'll do it, too. She's still not in her right mind, or she wouldn't be helping him!"

"I don't know," Damon admitted, though he hated saying the words out loud. "We'll just have to hope that Lockwood comes up with something."

"Putting all your eggs in one basket," Katherine's voice was so faint that he almost didn't hear her, "That's not like you, Damon."

With extreme difficulty, he pushed himself up into a standing position and stumbled towards her. "Kat?" When she didn't respond, he took a seat on the edge of the bed and tapped her chin. "Hey, can you hear me?" As his fingers brushed against her skin, he was struck by how utterly cold she was. "Katherine?"

"What's wrong with her?" Elena asked, and he turned in shock when he heard the slight hopeful quality in her tone. "Is she dead?"

"_Elena."_

"What?" she swallowed, digging her nails into the floorboards under her, "I'm so hungry, Damon."

"She's not dead yet," he snapped, though his own willpower was waning. "I can still hear her heart beating."

Elena watched with wide eyes as Damon methodically bit into his own wrist and tipped Katherine's head back. "What the hell are you doing?"

"She's dying," he hissed under his breath, "What would you want me to do?"

"You're—you're saving her life!?" Elena breathed in disbelief, "After everything she's done?"

"So you're saying she deserves to die like this?" Damon forced Katherine's mouth open and let the droplets of blood from his wrist fall between her parted lips. "Locked in some witch's house, _trapped _by Silas, starving to death, reeling from exhaustion—"

"Shut up," Elena slumped forward, covering her ears again, "God, just shut up!"

"The Elena I know is stronger than this," Damon's voice was fierce, "The Elena I know is a better person than _this_."

"Maybe you don't know me at all." When she looked up again, her fangs were bared. "Maybe you're about to see the real Elena."

"Stop it," he commanded, forcing himself to his feet and moving so that he was standing between Elena and Katherine. "You don't know what you're doing."

"I know exactly what I'm doing," she snarled, crouching into an attacking position. "I'm being a vampire. I'm _feeding_. It's what we do." Her eyes narrowed, "It's what _you _taught me."

Damon held out his arm warningly, "Stay back, Elena. I'm doing this for your own good. You don't want to kill her; you won't be able to live with yourself if you do."

She straightened, her eyes flashing, "I've killed before. I'll get over it."

"That's the hunger talking," he took a step towards her, "This isn't you."

"Damon?"

He turned back around at the sound of Katherine's pitiful voice. "Yeah, I'm here," he told her, still hovering protectively over her body. "Look, just rest. We'll get out of here soon."

"I'm..."

"Don't talk," he interrupted, "You're wasting your energy."

She breathed in, a deep shaking breath that Damon could hear in the very core of his body. "I have to say it," she murmured, "Before..."

The door to the bedroom flew open, though there was nobody standing behind it. Elena whirled around, running out into the hallway and looking down the staircase. Silas was standing at the bottom, a maniacal grin on his face. He waggled his fingers at her in a come hither motion, before disappearing around the corner and into the living room.

When she twisted around, she saw Damon standing at her shoulder. "Let's go down then," he said, his voice sounding dead. "I doubt we have much choice in the matter."

With that being said, they joined hands and walked down the stairs together. Elena almost felt like she was walking towards her doom; one look at Damon's face confirmed he felt the same way.

Silas smirked when he saw them, though his gaze was cold. "Where's the human doppelganger?"

Damon glared, "Dying."

"Well, that should make things easier at any rate," Silas replied flippantly, turning to look at Lucy as she came out of the kitchen. "Isn't that right?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Silas stared at Damon, as if contemplating whether to answer him or not. Eventually he shrugged, "See, the cure requires more magical power than either of you could possibly imagine. It's against what nature wants, against the balance it requires."

"So?"

"Going against nature means—"

"It means a sacrifice," Lucy cut in now, her voice loud and powerful. "And what better sacrifice than a Petrova doppelganger?"

"Wait," Elena said weakly, beginning to come to her senses as she leaned heavily against Damon. "No, you can't kill her."

"It's either you or her," Silas' eyes glittered menacingly, "And after all she's done to you? She deserves to die, doesn't she?"

Damon gripped Elena's hand tightly. For once, he didn't see a way out. He couldn't save them both, and there was no way in hell he was letting anything happen to Elena.

"She doesn't deserve it," Elena began, but Damon tugged on her arm so sharply that she shot him a startled look.

"Don't," he said in an undertone, "I love you. Don't do this."

She fell silent.

"Great," Silas clapped his hands, "It's all settled then." He gestured up the stairs, "After you, Lucy."

"What would Bonnie think!?" Elena burst out suddenly, her eyes pleading as she looked at Lucy. "Sh-she looked up to you, she respected you! She wouldn't want you to—"

"Lucy will find out exactly what Bonnie thinks when the veil comes down," Silas interrupted, "So no need for these hypothetical questions."

The door was flung open with such force that it sent the walls of the house shuddering. "Funny," Elijah said from the doorway, "Those are my favorite types of questions."

* * *

**9:00AM**

The taxi pulled to a stop a block away from the Lockwood residence, and Caroline hastily tossed some bills at the driver. "Keep the change," she said distractedly, not noticing the driver's face light up at the abnormally large tip she had given him. As soon as he began driving away, she took off in the opposite direction, running at almost vampire speed.

She came to a halt in front of Tyler's house and knocked at the door desperately. "Ty, you in there? TYLER? Where are—?"

The roar of an engine caught her attention, and she turned to see a motorcycle peeling down the street towards her. Caroline stared as it slowed near the house and then came to a stop at the edge of the driveway. Tears welled up in her eyes as the helmet came off and then Tyler was leaping off the bike, coming towards her. He stopped about ten feet from her and they simply gazed at each other, soaking in the sight of seeing each other after so long.

And then he blurred forward before she could blink, and he was suddenly in her arms, holding her against his muscled body and she was grasping onto his leather jacket, her fingers digging into his shoulders as she breathed in his scent."It's really you," she murmured as he burrowed his face into the crook of her neck, "You're actually here."

"God, Care," Tyler muttered before finding her lips and kissing her fiercely, "I missed you so freaking much."

"I missed you too," she gasped out loud as his mouth moved to her neck, his hands moving from her waist to skimming under her shirt. His fingers were hot against her skin as he pushed her against the side of the house, apparently not caring that they were giving the neighbors a show. "Ty," she whispered, "Wait...wait...just..._will you wait!?_"

He broke away from her lips, looking dazed. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Caroline shook her head to clear it, and she fumbled in her pockets for a second before extracting what she was looking for. "Your key," she said to him, "Matt left it with me before he went off on his summer road trip with Rebekah. He said to give it to you when you came back."

Tyler took the key, though the look on his face was priceless. "Matt and Rebekah, huh?" When she didn't respond with her usual dramatics, he looked past her. "How did you get here so fast?"

"I took the first flight out of Louisiana," she bit her lip before plowing on, "Klaus pulled some strings to get me a ticket."

The change in Tyler's demeanor was readily apparent as he stiffened. "I see. And where is Klaus now? He didn't come with you? I thought he was friends with Stefan—he wouldn't even come back to help?"

Caroline swallowed, pushing down the shared betrayal that she felt on Stefan's behalf. "He said he was busy," she answered in a clipped tone, "So it's just you and me, Tyler." She looked back at the motorcycle, "Where were you?"

"I took the first flight out of Boston and got here a couple hours ago." He led her away from the motorcycle and towards the back of the house, where she was surprised to see Matt's new pickup truck. "I stopped at the hardware store and picked up some things I thought we could use.

She peered into the back of the truck, her hands sifting through the heavy duty rope, a long metal chain, a large hook, and several towels and blankets. "Good," she said, staring at the items without having any sort of clue about how they were actually going to use them. "This is good." Then she frowned, cocking her ear in the other direction as she heard the sound of tires rumbling up the driveway. "Who could that be?"

Tyler raised an eyebrow at her, looking secretive. "Why don't you go around and check?"

Caroline shot him a suspicious look before striding around the corner. Then she came to a standstill, her mouth dropping open. "Mom!"

Sheriff Forbes got out of the car, looking weary. But she still smiled when she saw her daughter. "You're okay," she embraced Caroline tightly, "You're really okay. With everything that's happened, I was afraid..."

"I'm fine," she reassured her mother, but then took a step back. "What are you doing here?"

"I called her," Tyler replied, his hands in his pockets as he came forward to join them. "I figured we'd need reinforcements." He nodded towards the trunk of the car, "Did you bring it?"

"As much as I could get away with," Sheriff Forbes walked around the car to pop open the trunk. The stinging scent of blood struck Caroline's nostrils and she fought the vampiric instincts threatening to take over as she gazed at the three large coolers sitting there. "Think that's enough for someone who's been drowning without blood?"

Caroline looked over at her mother in surprise, "You know?"

"Tyler told me," Liz responded uneasily, "Now, about this Silas character...how do you guys plan on getting rid of him?"

"That's not for us to worry about right now," Caroline shook her head, running her fingers through her hair as she thought about what to do. "We're here to rescue Stefan, let's just focus on that for now."

"Agreed," Tyler said, revving into action. "Care, you and me will take Matt's truck and drive it to the edge of the quarry. Liz, you can follow us in your car. But when we pull Stefan out, I want you to stand as far away as possible, okay? We don't want him to smell your blood and attack you or anything like that."

"Will he..." Sheriff Forbes looked pained, "Even be able to move?"

Caroline flinched.

Tyler looked over at her quickly, but kept his face expressionless. "Better safe than sorry."

"Ah yes, that _is _what I always say, isn't it, Matt?"

Everyone turned around to gape as Rebekah strolled casually across the sidewalk to meet them, with Matt by her side.

"Wha—what?" Caroline stammered, "What on earth are you two doing here!?"

"I heard reinforcements were in order," Rebekah said briskly, the sunlight shining on her blonde hair almost like a halo. "Double crossing and betrayals aside, Stefan is an old friend. If Niklaus couldn't be here, then he wanted to send the next best thing." She smiled widely, "Me."

"Klaus sent you?" Tyler demanded, "But I thought you were...away."

"We were just leaving Niagara Falls when Klaus called," Matt said, speaking for the first time. "We came right away." He paused, sounding uncertain, "Will Stefan be alright?"

"We won't know till we get there," Tyler said, when it became clear no one else was going to answer. "Okay, so change of plans. Matt, you can drive your truck down to the quarry with Rebekah. I'll drive there on my motorcycle, and Caroline you can come in your mom's car. Everyone good with that?"

Rebekah nodded, straightening as her expression became serious. "Let's go save Stefan."


	14. Finale: Part I

** A/N: **thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing, and I hope you guys enjoy part one of the finale!

* * *

_NEW ORLEANS_

_._

_._

"Quit pouting, Gilbert," Klaus' voice was harsh, "The look doesn't suit you."

Jeremy glared, "Don't tell me what to do. It's bad enough that I'm stuck here with you, I don't need you ordering me around like you did your hybrids."

Klaus gritted his teeth, "Believe me, I don't want you here anymore than you wish to be here." He spared a disdainful glance at the empty space in the booth. "But without you, this whole plan fails to have any sort of meaning so I suggest you shut up and deal with it."

"She's not sitting there anymore," Jeremy snapped, pointing instead to a spot about two feet away from them. "She's standing over there now, and she doesn't appreciate the way you're speaking to me."

"Jer," Bonnie protested, "I didn't say anything!"

He scowled at her, "What's that supposed to mean? Don't tell me you're on his side!"

"I know you want to save Elena," she said placatingly, "But what did you expect would happen here if you left? Klaus can't see or hear me; how would we communicate about Marcel? We _need _you to be here, don't you see that?"

Klaus tapped his foot impatiently while listening to one side of the conversation, until he'd had enough. "Listen," he cut in, not knowing if he was actually interrupting or not. "I get that you wanted to go with Elijah so that you could save your sister—but trust me, she is in far better hands with him than she would be if you'd gone up there and simply been another person Silas could use as bait."

"He has a point."

"Would you stop agreeing with him!?"

Bonnie sighed and crossed her arms, "He's only stating the obvious."

"Fine," Jeremy said loudly, "Since you two clearly still think I'm some stupid kid who only knows how to get in the way—"

"That's not fair, Jer."

"You're only proving my point for me," Klaus growled, "By throwing this temper tantrum. God, you remind me of Bex sometimes."

"I don't see why you have to insult me."

Klaus shot him a look.

"Fine," Jeremy grumbled, "Let's get to the plan. Bonnie, you're going to follow Marcel for the rest of the day. Klaus and I will just sit in this bar and...keep each other company." He looked less than thrilled with the prospect.

"Oh cheer up, young Gilbert," Klaus leaned back, resting his arms along the top of the booth. "Good food, drinks, a nice view...what more could you ask for?"

Jeremy frowned, following his line of sight until he saw Camille standing behind the bar. Her blonde hair fell into her face as she studiously leant over a textbook, chewing one end of her pencil. "That the nice view you're talking about?" he asked skeptically, "I didn't think she was your type."

"Why not?"

Bonnie gave Jeremy a wave before disappearing, though not before giving him a warning look. He nodded at her before turning his attention back to Klaus. "Because she's human."

"So? You think I have something against humans?"

"Yes," Jeremy responded firmly, "You think you're better than them. You think you're better than most vampires and werewolves, too, come to think of it. But definitely better than humans."

Klaus stared at him, his brow furrowing slightly. "Is that what you think of me?" He hesitated then, the facade slipping a little. "Is that what Caroline thinks of me?"

"Don't pretend to care about her."

"Who said I was pretending?"

Jeremy jabbed a thumb in Camille's direction, "Well, you're already looking at other girls the second that Caroline leaves town, so—"

"Don't be ridiculous," Klaus snapped, beginning to look angry. "I don't feel anything for that bartender. It doesn't matter that she's human. She could be a thousand year old vampire for all I care. She's not Caroline."

Jeremy didn't react to this declaration, except to say, "She mentioned knowing you, the day that Caroline and I arrived in New Orleans."

[_"He's in here most nights, with his buddy Marcel...A real pair of charmers, the two of them. Klaus' brother Elijah joins them sometimes, but I get the feeling that the bar's not really his type of scene. More like he's around to keep an eye on his brother, you know?"_]

Klaus looked surprised, "She said that? I wasn't aware I was being...charming."

"That's hardly the point of the story."

"I do like her," he admitted, though he sounded reluctant to say so. "She's strong, smart, unafraid...she stood up to Marcel the first night I met her. And she has a real eye for art; I enjoy speaking with her."

Jeremy stared at him.

"What?"

"Nothing...It's just that this is the first time I've heard you give credit where credit's due."

"You people have spent so much time making assumptions about me that none of you really know me at all, do you?"

Jeremy raised an eyebrow, "Well, you did kill a lot of people."

"So have all your so-called friends, not to mention your own sister."

"I—"

"And when you killed my _brother, _you also killed hundreds of vampires. You don't know who they are, you don't know how they lived or how they became vampires. Some of them could have been like Stefan, living on animal blood. Others could have been like Caroline, unknowingly turned in a plot for revenge. Or even like your sister, turned accidentally due to unforeseen circumstances. You're no innocent, Gilbert, so why don't you drop the act?"

Jeremy fell silent, and breathed out a long gust of air. "I can't feel guilty for what I did," he said finally, "I can't apologize to you, especially not after what you've done to my family."

"I didn't ask for an apology," Klaus replied, his voice holding no trace of venom. "I merely asked you to stop being a hypocrite."

"Yeah," Jeremy looked up at him, "I think I can do that."

**XXX**

"I've been watching you, you know."

Bonnie's stomach clenched but she was careful not to let any emotion onto her face. "I always knew you were obsessed with me."

"Do you really think you're going to learn anything by following this guy around?" Kol eyed Marcel speculatively, "Because all he's talked about so far is money."

"He owns a bar, and he's involved with more than one business in this quarter," Bonnie muttered back, "Of course he's going to talk about money."

The air around her shuddered slightly as Kol pushed his way further into her space, breaking through the resistance that usually kept ghosts from finding each other. "It's so fascinating."

She sighed resignedly, "What?"

"How the new ones always have hope."

Bonnie frowned as she looked over Marcel and the three men he was talking to, but failed to see who Kol was referring to. "Who's new?"

"You." He came to stand next to her, lounging against the wall with his hands in his pockets, looking as if he didn't have a care in the world. "You still think there's a way out. You still think there's a way you can be saved."

Her voice was low when she answered, "There is a way. I did it for Jeremy, didn't I?"

"Yes, and another murderer gets to rejoin the world of the living, isn't that nice?"

Bonnie whirled to face him, and was startled to see that Kol had moved so that he was hovering behind her. She took an instinctive step back, but then held her ground. "Jeremy didn't deserve—"

"He killed me, and he killed my entire bloodline!" Kol hissed venomously, cutting her off. "That makes him a murderer."

"So are you!"

"Two wrongs don't make a right."

Bonnie spun back around, anger coursing through her veins. "Don't preach about what's wrong and right, Kol. I doubt you know the meaning of the words." She would've continued, but then a hand clasped her shoulder, turning her back around forcefully.

She couldn't stop the gasp from escaping her lips, and even Kol paused, looking shocked. "How does that work?" he muttered, keeping his hand on her shoulder. "It hasn't worked on anyone else." When she met his gaze, the vindictive look had faded from his eyes, to be replaced by genuine curiosity. "Have you been able to touch anyone else here on the Other Side?"

Her mouth felt dry when she answered truthfully, "I haven't tried."

"But you know so many people here," he insisted, "That vampire hunter, Alaric was it? And your grandmother...have you been able to find them?"

"I saw my Grams a couple times," Bonnie took a step backwards, and Kol's hand slipped off her shoulder. She stared at it for a long moment, feeling the loss of another being's touch. When she spoke again, her voice was small. "This place is so big, I haven't been able to find Alaric."

She expected a sarcastic remark, but he kept uncharacteristically silent. Bonnie looked away and her gaze fell on Marcel, who was beginning to gather some papers and move to another room. She followed behind him mutely, though she noticed Kol trailing several paces behind her.

Marcel stopped by an office in the back hallway and tossed the papers inside before locking the door firmly. Then he walked back in the other direction, until he reached a door that led to a closet. Bonnie paused, watching interestedly as Marcel looked over his shoulder before entering. He let it close behind him, and she heard the unmistakable sound of a lock snapping into place.

Kol fell into step beside her and tilted his head, "Bit odd, that." He held his hand out experimentally, watching as it went through the door. "You have to admit, being a ghost has its advantages."

She pursed her lips, staring up at him. "What are you doing?"

He didn't answer for a second, but then he suddenly wrapped his free hand around her wrist and yanked her through the door with him. She stumbled slightly in the abrupt darkness, and they both stilled. "Look," he said, pointing at a panel that had been taken out of the wall. "Marcel must've gone through there."

Bonnie peered through the hidden walkway apprehensively. Ghost or not, her human instincts hadn't left her quite yet. "There's a staircase leading down into some kind of...basement?"

"Or torture chamber." Kol's voice sounded half amused and half eager. "Not scared are you, Bennett?"

She shot him a disgusted look, "You _would _sound excited at the prospect of a torture chamber."

"Oh ease up, I was only kidding." He raised an eyebrow at her expectantly, "Go on, then."

Bonnie hesitated only a split second but then took a deep breath and began to go walk down, when Kol suddenly grabbed her wrist again and pulled her back. She shot him an annoyed look, "What's your problem?"

To her surprise, he looked nervous. "Don't you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

His eyes narrowed as he gazed down the staircase, "Some kind of...power."

She pulled her arm out of his grasp, feeling the lingering burn of his touch against her skin. Bonnie swallowed, turning her face away so he wouldn't notice the effect he was having on her. "I'll go first then," she said, relieved to hear her voice sound even. "Since you're so scared."

"I'm not—"

Bonnie ignored him, tiptoeing down the stairs even though no one would be able to hear her anyway. It was dark at the bottom, but it wasn't the dusty basement that she had been expecting. She had entered a long hallway, illuminated only by a single lightbulb at the end. She walked silently towards it, reaching a large wooden door which had been left ajar.

She stretched her hand out towards it, and nearly screamed when she felt something brush against her back. "Don't be so jumpy," Kol said, letting his hand drop from her shirt. "Nothing can hurt you anymore, remember?"

"Easy for you to say," Bonnie glowered at him, "Not much could hurt you when you were alive either."

It was too dark to tell, but she could've sworn he rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's go see what nefarious activities Marcel is up to." Kol held out his hand then, a challenge in his eyes as he looked back at her. She reluctantly took it, letting him pull her through the door and into the room behind it.

Then she blinked, wondering what on earth they had walked into.

Kol whistled, "Talk about living large. And under a seedy bar, too."

Bonnie looked around the spacious living room, completely bewildered. It was furnished nicely, with several paintings hanging on the walls—a few, she suspected, were of Klaus' own artistic work. Voices came from an adjoining room, and she walked towards the sound, dragging Kol along with her.

They entered a kitchen, where Marcel stood with a young girl. She was pretty, with jet black hair and dark eyes that stood out against her pale, almost white skin. Only her lips had any color, a faint pink that glistened as she spoke. She was wearing a simple purple dress, one that ended just above her knees, and tall black boots with at least a three inch heel on them, giving the illusion that she was almost at Marcel's height.

The two of them were currently poring over a map that spanned the length of the kitchen counter. Marcel was sipping on a glass of red wine, looking thoughtful as the girl pointed at various markings on the map. "Do you see it?" Kol asked suddenly, "There are spots on the map that are glowing."

Bonnie took a few steps forward, for some reason taking extra care to be as quiet as possible. She knew she was being stupid and overly cautious—but something told her that this girl was a witch, and she wasn't about to bring to their attention that there was an unwanted supernatural presence in the room as well.

"So you're sure these areas are only lighting up from past magic being used, right?" Marcel pointed to several of the glowing spots, "Nothing is being done right now?"

"No magic has been done since you killed Jane-Anne," the girl responded somewhat spitefully, "I already told you."

"Alright, alright, just making sure," Marcel said easily, and then reached into his jacket pocket to produce an envelope. "One thousand, as promised."

She took it, but shifted from foot to foot while biting her lip. "My brother, he..." Her voice trailed off, "The doctors say he's not getting any better. All the money you've given me—my mom, she..."

Marcel heaved a sigh, but Bonnie narrowed her eyes—she didn't know him well, but she knew his type enough to know when he was being sincere—and right now, he wasn't. "Tell you what," he said, reaching into his wallet and pulling out several $100 bills. "Here's another four hundred. All you have to do is keep your word, and there's plenty more where that came from."

The girl nodded, a grateful smile spreading across her face. "Thank you, Marcel."

"Just go out the back way, like I showed you," he called after her as she picked up a bag sitting on the floor and hurried through a door that Bonnie hadn't noticed before. "And don't forget to call me the second that anything on that map changes."

After she had disappeared, Marcel shut off all the lights, humming to himself as he locked the door behind him and headed back up the stairs. Kol turned to look at Bonnie, and it was only then that she realized they were still holding hands. She let go immediately, crossing her arms and backing away. His eyes followed her movements, but he didn't comment on it. Instead, he said blandly, "So, he's using a witch to spy on other witches."

"Yeah," Bonnie grimaced, the words leaving a sour taste in her mouth. "It looks that way."

* * *

_SALEM_

_._

_._

"I remember you," Silas proclaimed through hooded eyes, "The honorable Elijah Mikealsen, come to save the day." He grinned a little, "But it seems you haven't quite thought this plan through."

"Oh, believe me, I've thought it through quite well," Elijah's gaze flicked over to Elena, and concern tightened the features on his face for a brief instant. "It would seem your prisoners aren't being treated well under your care, Silas. Or am I to assume that was, in fact, the point?"

Silas followed his line of sight to Elena and Damon, both of whom looked like they were on the verge of collapsing. He shrugged apathetically, "They'll survive."

Elijah tensed against the doorway, though he kept his voice level when he replied, "Undoubtedly."

"Back to your plan, though," Silas strolled forward casually, stopping a few inches away from the door. "How was it that you planned on playing the savior when you—as I'm sure you've been able to discern by now—are unable to get in?"

"Oh, I don't need to get in," Elijah responded, twisting his body slightly so that he was leaning sideways instead. "_They _do."

A girl appeared then next to Elijah, a cold smile on her face. "Silas, I presume."

His smirk faltered, "And you are?"

"Sophie Anne," she announced, striding into the house. "And these are eleven of my closest friends," she gestured behind her as more witches filtered in through the doorway. "Hope you don't consider them rude for not introducing themselves...or for letting themselves in without an invitation. But then again, this isn't _your _house, is it?"

"That one," Elijah pointed discreetly at Lucy, "She's under some sort of Compulsion, or mind trickery."

"Got it," Sophie Anne brushed past Silas, her eyes focused solely on Lucy as the witches descended upon her, creating a circle as they began chanting.

Elena gaped, grabbing onto Damon in sheer disbelief. He, on the other hand, didn't seem to be paying attention to either her or the witches. "Silas!" he shouted, "Where did he go?" He stumbled forward towards the doorway, getting as close to Elijah as he could. "D-did you see? WHERE IS HE?"

Elijah blinked, his brow furrowing in confusion. "Damon..."

"Katherine," he said wildly, "She's—"

"Not to worry," Elijah interrupted tersely, "Caroline has already filled me in on what happened with the cure." He shot a reproachful glance at Elena, "And although you two shouldn't have kept this from me, I understand why you kept it a secret from Klaus. It makes no difference, however, he knows the truth now."

"It is done," Sophie Anne suddenly announced, and the circle widened, revealing a dazed looking Lucy in the middle. "We have cleared her mind of anything that may have been clouding her senses."

"What's..." Lucy placed a hand to her forehead before sinking down onto the sofa. "What's going on?"

"Invite him in!" Damon rasped, grasping onto the door handle with the last of his strength. "Elijah, he...Silas...going to kill Katherine...sacrifice." Then he fell back against the wall, the last of his energy ebbing away.

Elijah froze.

Lucy's eyes widened in horror, "Yes, I—Elijah! I invite you in!"

He blurred inside without a second thought, looking over at Elena frantically. "Upstairs," she managed to say before sliding onto the ground next to Damon, "First bedroom."

Elijah shot up the staircase, skidding into the first room he saw. Silas stood over the bed, a knife held over Katherine's heart. The blade glowed, golden scripture blazing into fire as words appeared in quick succession and then vanished just as quickly. "No," Elijah shouted, just as the final word appeared. _Sacrificium. _

Her eyes flew open at the sound of his voice, her gaze finding his in her final moment. But then Silas was swinging the blade down with deadly precision, and her voice gurgled, a faint gasp emitting from her throat. "Katerina!" Elijah rushed forward, throwing Silas backwards with enough force that he went crashing into the wall behind them. "No, no—you can't be dead!"

"Looks like white knight was too late to save the damsel in distress this time," Silas laughed derisively, getting to his feet and clearly unhurt. "She's gone, Elijah. And she died as a human, so...unfortunately you won't be seeing her when the veil comes down." His voice turned mocking, "Tough luck, _mate_."

Downstairs, Sophie Anne had crouched in front of Elena, looking unnerved. "What's wrong with you two?"

"Stay back," Elena gasped, the veins beginning to protrude from her face. "The blood..."

"Oh, that reminds me," she exclaimed, "Elijah packed a cooler in his car with blood bags." She gestured at two witches to go get it before she turned back to Elena. "You're lucky, you know, that he thought ahead. We didn't have a lot of time to get here, but..." Sophie Anne trailed off as the cooler was brought in, and she shifted aside to help set it down in front of Elena and Damon. "You, ah, don't need us to feed them to you, do you?"

Elena shook her head, weakly opening the latch and grabbing one of the blood bags. She ripped it open with her teeth, and then turned toward Damon, forcing it into his mouth. "Drink up," she whispered to him, tipping his head back until the blood reached his throat. He coughed a few times, until his mouth closed around the bag and he began drinking of his own volition. It was only then that she opened a second bag and began to quench her own thirst.

Sophie Anne watched them curiously, her gaze locking with Elena's. "You love him, don't you?"

"Yes," Elena answered, puzzled. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before reaching for another bag. "Why do you ask?"

"You made sure he drank first, before you thought of yourself. Even though you were starving to death, too."

Damon sighed wearily, reaching over to stroke the back of Elena's wrist. "That's my girl. Always thinking of everyone but herself."

"Well, I—" Elena stopped abruptly, an arrested look crossing her face. "Oh god."

"What is it?" Damon asked, alarmed when he caught sight of her expression. "What happened?"

Elijah came down the stairs at that moment, his tread heavy. He looked like he had aged immeasurably since he'd first arrived at the house. "Silas is upstairs," he said dully to no one in particular, "I was too late. Katherine is dead."

Elena struggled to her feet, moving towards the bottom of the staircase so that she was there when he descended. "Elijah—"

"Don't."

"No," she insisted, tugging on his arm and pulling him towards the doorway. He allowed her to drag him out of the house, looking utterly uninterested in the proceedings. Once they were outside, she grabbed onto both of his arms, her hands holding onto the material of his suit with trembling fingers. "Silas can't know. It would ruin everything."

He tilted his head at her, a dim curiosity burning in his eyes. "Elena, what is this about?"

"Katherine," she breathed out, "Damon fed her his blood."


	15. Finale: Part II

** A/N: **this was initially meant to be the last chapter, but I realized there was too much left to happen so now there will be ONE more chapter after this ;) enjoy!

* * *

_I._

The sunlight above Caroline dimmed as she swam further into the depths of the lake, the metal chain dragging behind her. She paused for a second, treading water as she impatiently swatted away strands of her hair that had floated into her face, obscuring her already darkened view. Someone on the ground above registered her lack of movement, and gave a tug on the chain. She pursed her lips and irritably yanked on it once—a sign to show that she was still there and hadn't had any luck yet.

Not for the first time, she wished that one of the others had come into the lake with her. It was oddly eerie, being down here all by herself—surrounded by nothing but a vast amount of water. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably at the thought that Stefan was here somewhere; that he had _been _all alone ever since Silas had tossed him over the quarry like a rag doll. What must he have been thinking every time he drowned and came back to life? _When will someone find me? When will they realize I'm gone? When will..._

Caroline's stream of consciousness cut off abruptly as her eyes alighted on the outline of a box. She swam towards it eagerly, her eyes widening in relief when her hands reached out and touched the safe. "Yes," she breathed out loud, relief coursing through her body even as she accidentally swallowed a mouthful of water. Choking, she hastily grabbed the end of the chain and managed to wrap it around the safe twice before she felt it begin to tauten. Figuring that was the best she was going to get, she fastened it as securely as she could before clambering on top of the safe and giving the chain three sharp tugs.

Then she waited.

"That was the signal," Tyler shouted as he felt the chain move three times in his hand. "She found him! Let's move!"

"Go!" Rebekah yelled over her shoulder at Matt, and he revved the engine of his truck. It roared to life as he began inching forward, the metal chain creaking behind him. Rebekah took her place halfway between the lake and the truck, while Tyler stood at the edge. He turned and gave her a nod, then they both began pulling at the chain, using their combined supernatural abilities to pull the safe (and Caroline) out of the water.

Liz Forbes stood to the side near the truck, directing Matt to continue driving forward until she saw Tyler start waving frantically. "Wait!" she called to Matt as she began running towards the lake, "I think they see the safe!"

Sure enough, Tyler had launched himself into the water. Caroline's head popped up a second later, and she coughed uncontrollably as she spat out water. "Here, here," she gasped, "Help me get this onto the ground." Rebekah dropped the chain and sped forward to help, and together the three of them shoved the safe out of the water.

"Oh god," Caroline wrung her hands as she stared at it in dismay, her emotions finally catching up with her. "All this time, a part of me wanted it not to be true. A part me hoped that Silas was just messing with us, but..."

"But it's true," Rebekah stared down at the safe with almost an identical expression on her face. "He's really been down there this whole time."

"What do we do?" Sheriff Forbes asked in a shaky voice, "We need to...to get the water out of the safe before—"

Matt had gotten out of his truck by this time and joined them with an incredulous look on his face. "Get the water out? Who cares about that? Just open it up and get Stefan out!"

"No!" Caroline said so sharply that everyone turned around to look at her in shock. "We can't," she pointed to the sun, "It's daylight and he doesn't have his ring."

"Silas took Stefan's ring?" Tyler demanded, "Are you sure?"

She closed her eyes, thinking of Damon who had been _so _sure it hadn't been Stefan, thinking of everyone else who had been fooled so easily. "Yes," she said slowly, "Silas is smart. He would've taken the ring." Before she could begin to voice her plan, she heard the distinct sound of tires approaching and she tensed. "Who could that be?"

After several moments, the car came into sight and Rebekah whistled. "Well, well, well. Who called the good doctor?"

"I did," Sheriff Forbes said, moving forward and ignoring the looks of surprise everyone gave her. "I figured she could help."

"Mom," Caroline began to complain, but stilled when Matt placed a hand on her arm. "What?"

"She knows about all you guys," he said to her in a low voice that no doubt everyone else could hear anyway. "And she's the one who, you know..." He trailed off, but Caroline knew what he had left unsaid. _She's the one who saved Elena's life. _

Meredith Fell rushed out of her car then, almost tripping in her haste. "So sorry I'm late! I got caught up with a situation in the hospital and—" She broke off suddenly as she caught sight of the safe, and ground to a halt. "Is he..." she gestured uneasily, "In there?"

"He is," Sheriff Forbes told her in a straightforward voice, "We need to figure out a way to get the water out. Then we'll need to take him someplace dark."

Dr. Fell's face lit up with an idea and she hurried to the trunk of her car, rummaging in it for a few moments before returning with a long plastic tube connected to some sort of machine. "A suction," she explained to the group at large, "For the water."

"A suction?" Rebekah echoed, "You mean it'll, like, vacuum the water out?"

"We'll just have to try and see, won't we?" Meredith walked forward hesitatingly and ran her hands along the edges of the safe. "We'll have to open it up just a crack—I swear, only enough for the tube to get in."

Tyler stepped forward, nodding at Caroline to do the same. Together they each took an end of the lid and broke the lock; the lid came apart with a sickening squelch. Dr. Fell hastily slid the tube in and they let the lid fall, careful not to let any sunlight in. "Alright," Matt said apprehensively, "Give it a go."

Meredith turned the machine on, and soon murky water began flowing through the tube and into a plastic container. She moved around the safe in a circle, and Caroline watched with a frown as the lid on the plastic container burst open, unable to hold the continuing flow of water. Apart from everyone jumping out of the way, there was no other reaction from the suddenly subdued group.

"There," the sheriff cut in after a few minutes, "The water is slowing down, you must have gotten nearly all of it out."

Matt reached around Meredith to switch the suction off, and they stood in silence for a long moment. Finally he said in a tentative voice, "I guess this means he's not drowning in there anymore."

Tyler scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably, "Should we, I don't know...toss some blood bags in there with him?"

"No," Caroline's voice quivered, "We're taking him somewhere dark first."

"The Salvatore basement," Rebekah suggested when no one said anything. "No sunlight can get down there. There's plenty of room and..." She cleared her throat, "He can recuperate."

"Yes," Meredith agreed quietly, "He hasn't seen sunlight in weeks. It'll take time for his eyes to adjust. A dark environment would be better for him."

"Especially since we'll have to get his ring off Silas somehow," Caroline muttered, pulling out her cell phone to text Klaus. "Let's hope Elijah has gotten to them by now."

* * *

_II._

"His blood?" Elijah's eyes widened fractionally, "Are you telling me that—"

"Elena!" Damon shouted, running outside and coming to a halt when he saw her. "The cure—Lucy said we're too late—he's already made it, and the power from the sacrifice is going to be enough to complete the spell—"

Sophie Anne was on Damon's heels, her hair billowing wildly behind her. "He's not upstairs anymore, he must've gone somewhere to complete it!"

Elena looked between the two of them, and suddenly realized that the spell keeping them all indoors had been broken. "Lucy broke the spell," she blurted out, "Maybe she can undo what has been done, too!"

"No," Lucy appeared at the doorway, shaking her head and looking scared. "I could undo the spell on the house because it was only meant to keep people in. It was simple. The spell for the cure cannot be undone. It is a tangible object, one that I fear Silas has already gotten his hands on."

Damon whirled around, "What do you mean by that?"

"He's not upstairs, he's not in the basement...t-the vial that we had been brewing it in, it's gone."

"Great," he swore, turning on Elijah angrily. "Why'd you leave him upstairs alone!?"

Elena hastily placed a hand on Elijah's chest, silently begging him not to retaliate. "It's not his fault," she said to Damon, "It's no one's fault. We need to figure out where Silas might have gone. You don't think he took the cure already, do you? He wouldn't do that before a witch lowered the veil, right?"

"Right," Lucy said, though she didn't sound entirely sure. "That was his goal, after all."

"You," Elijah said to her evenly, "You're the only Bennett witch left. You must do something to make this right."

"He's right," Sophie Anne said, turning to Lucy with something akin to respect in her eyes. "You share a bond with the witch that Silas is hiding from. Quetsiyah."

"A bond?" Lucy sputtered, "How exactly did you arrive at that conclusion?"

"You are a descendant," Elijah stepped forward, his eyes flashing. "You can bring her forth."

"We'll help you," Sophie Anne put in, glancing at the witches behind her, all of whom nodded in agreement. "Anything to stop hell from being unleashed."

"The woods behind my house," Lucy said finally with great reluctance, "There's a clearing. We can do the spell there, it's large enough for all of us."

And that was how, an hour later, Elena and Damon stood in the midst of thirteen witches. They had gathered in a circle in the woods, and flames rose from a small fire in the center. Elena's eyes followed the smoke rising into the trees before it disappeared into the darkening sky. "This," she whispered warily to Damon, "Is pretty creepy."

He crossed his arms, his gaze flicking back and forth across the clearing as though he expected Silas to make an appearance at any moment. "What happened to thirteen being an unlucky number?"

Elena ignored him, feeling her teeth begin to chatter. "D-do you think it'll work?"

"I haven't been to too many seances, now that you mention it," Damon muttered back dryly, "We'll just have to wait and see."

"I don't like this," she said back, rubbing her arms against the unnatural chill. "Why am I cold? I never get cold anymore. I thought vampires weren't supposed to—"

"You're feeling the power in the air," he cut off her increasingly hysterical rambling by sliding an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his body. "You haven't experienced much of it after turning into a vampire. This feeling—the one you have right now, that you can sense deep under your skin, in your very bones—that's what true witchcraft feels like."

"What you are feeling is intensified," Lucy told her briefly, "Because of the number of witches you're surrounded by at this moment."

"She's right," Sophie Anne added, "Usually when you meet a witch, you'll feel some sort of charge. It's in our aura. You'll come to identify it with practice."

Elena absorbed the information thoughtfully, and then glanced up at Damon with a raised eyebrow. "So I take it that you've already honed in that skill?"

"Years of practice," he quipped, before his lips curved into a smile. "You'll get there, I promise." He dropped a light kiss onto the top of her head and rubbed his hand back and forth along her shoulder. "Feeling warmer?"

"No," she tilted her head back with a smile, "Feeling loved, though."

He obediently leant forward to kiss her lightly on the lips, keeping it chaste in front of present company. "We have a lot of _making up _to do when we get out of this mess."

"That's the only thing keeping me going," Elena teased back playfully, nipping at his lips with a hint of something more to come. "I can't wait to get back home."

Almost instantly, though, she sobered up. Damon, as if sensing her mood, pulled her in tighter. Don't worry. Lockwood will get to Stefan, I know he will."

She started to reply, but fell silent as all the witches joined hands and began chanting. They were quiet at first, but then their voices rose in unison, becoming louder and louder until Elena buried her head into Damon's chest against the noise she could feel reverberating in her chest. She watched out of the corner of her eye as the flames in the center began to rise in an almost perfectly shaped column. "QUETSIYAH," Lucy bellowed, "WE CALL UPON YOU." The flames rose higher, beginning to emit bright sparks. "_NOS DICO VOS SUPER VOS UT TRANSEO." _

The column of fire began to spin now, so fast that Elena felt dizzy just watching it. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't—she felt oddly drawn to it, drawn to the flames, to the warmth, to the very power emanating from it. Then there was suddenly a girl standing in the fire, her being taking form right before Elena's eyes. The girl seemed so familiar that Elena unconsciously took a step towards her, but then Damon was grabbing onto her arm, his voice harsh in her ear, "Elena, don't!"

"But I...I know her..."

"No, no you—"

The flames died away abruptly, seeming to vanish into thin air. The girl remained, however, still standing in the middle of the circle. Her clothes were tattered, her hair long and smoky, her eyes a charcoal black. But there was no mistaking who she was—or who she looked like.

"Bonnie," Elena breathed, and the girl turned to look at her with a sharp gaze. "Quetsiyah is Bonnie's doppelganger."

* * *

_III._

Klaus knocked on the door only once, then folded his hands behind his back and waited patiently. He didn't have to wait long, however, because the door opened almost immediately. He stared at the empty space at his eye level, then dropped his gaze down to a young boy with a mop of darkish hair and wide hazel eyes. "Hello," Klaus said somewhat stiffly, "And who might you be?"

The boy blinked at him, "I'm not allowed to talk to strangers."

"Skipped the lesson on opening the doors to strangers though, haven't you?"

Jeremy cleared his throat loudly, and Klaus half turned to shoot him a glare. "What? Think you're going to have better luck?"

"Dex? What are you doing? Who's at the..." A girl came to the door, the same dark hair swinging around her shoulders. The boy pointed and the girl looked up, the smile instantly slipping off her face to be replaced with a look of abject fear. "Dex, sweetie, I want you to go inside and stay there, okay?" She moved her body in front of his protectively, "Wh-who are you? What do you want?"

Klaus leered, "Something tells me you know exactly who I am, love."

"I don't, I..."

"Let's not play these games," he interrupted, "I am in somewhat of a rush, and we each know what the other one is, don't we?"

There was a moment of silence, during which the girl's face lost its sweet innocence. She straightened, her expression becoming almost fierce as she spat, "The Original Hybrid on my doorstep, I never thought I'd see the day."

"And you're a witch," he returned with just as much flair, "Davina, is it? The witch who rats out other witches?" He stroked his chin thoughtfully, "My, my. I wonder what the coven will think of _that._"

Davina's eyes narrowed, "How do you know my name?"

"The _how _does not matter," Klaus snapped, "It is the _why _you should be concerned with."

A noise came from within the house and Davina quickly turned, her eyes searching for her brother. "Dex? Are you okay?"

Jeremy stepped forward then, keeping his arms crossed. "I thought your brother was sick."

"He is, that's why—" She broke off, the fear on her face returning for a split second. "How did you know that?"

"We have our sources," Klaus said coldly, impatience trickling into his tone. "Didn't we just finish discussing that you're asking all the wrong questions?"

Davina shifted from foot to foot, looking indecisive. "What do you want?" she asked finally, "Are you going to tell the other witches?"

"She's young," Bonnie said quietly to Jeremy, "She's putting on a front. Look at her closely; she's scared."

Jeremy sighed, "Listen, Davina, it's nothing personal. We just happen to need a favor from the other witches, and you're our key to getting what we want."

"A favor?" She glanced over her shoulder before lowering her voice to a plea, "I'll do it, I'll do whatever you want...Just don't tell anyone what I've been doing—they'll kill me, don't you understand?"

Klaus frowned, "I'm afraid you won't have the power to do what we're asking. What are you, sixteen, seventeen?"

"Sixteen," Davina answered strongly, "And I bet you I can." The challenge was unmistakable in her gaze as she looked over at Jeremy, "Tell me what you wanted those witches to do for you, and I"ll do it better and faster. Mark my words."

"Consider them marked," Klaus snarled, getting as close to the doorway as he could so that he was towering above her. "Open the veil to the Other Side."

"You have to tell her _why," _Bonnie said impatiently, "Why would she do it without knowing the reason behind it?"

Davina's mouth fell open as she gazed at something behind Jeremy's shoulder, "Who the hell are you?"

"Who?" Klaus turned and then froze, the look on his face becoming incredulous. "Kol?"

"No way," Bonnie breathed, reaching out blindly and grabbing onto Jeremy's arm. Her hand didn't go through him, and she felt the solidness of his wrist underneath her fingertips. "I-I'm here, I'm really here." Then she was running at him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. As soon as the shock wore off, Jeremy was kissing her fiercely, holding onto her as if he'd never let her go.

"Well, brother, can't say that's the greeting I'm going to give you," Kol strolled forward almost leisurely, "So, what's happening here, then?"

For once, Klaus looked speechless. "Someone else must've opened the veil...But who?"

"Yes," Kol said ominously, "And why?"

* * *

_IV._

"Alright," Caroline said as they all stood in the Salvatore basement, "Here goes nothing." Then she dropped to her knees beside the safe and slowly lifted up the lid, wincing as it creaked loudly in the dead silence.

"Is he..." Dr. Fell inched forward, looking nothing short of terrified as she peered over Caroline's shoulder. "Do you see him?"

"Stay back!" Tyler nearly roared, flinging an arm out in front of Meredith. "In fact, _all _humans should stay outside of the cell."

"He's right." Rebekah said delicately, "We wouldn't want you to be vampire bait."

Matt nodded, following Sheriff Forbes and Dr. Fell outside of the cell and closing the door so that they were on the other side of the bars. "You think those three coolers are going to be enough?"

"Are you crazy?" a new voice answered indignantly, "Of course it's not going to be enough!"

Caroline spun on her heel, gaping at the new arrival in their midst. "Lexi!?"

* * *

_V._

"Bonnie is _my _doppelganger," Quetsiyah corrected Elena, a wicked smile on her lips as she walked around the circle, peering at everyone with interest. "You all want Silas to die, but he can't die as a human or otherwise he won't be trapped on the Other Side with me."

"But he has the cure," Damon interjected, "And now he's run off and we don't know where he is."

"Oh, I can find him," the witch replied, the blackness in her eyes intensifying. "I will _always _find him."

Elena backed away, completely unnerved. "Wh-what is she doing?"

"The hell if I know," a familiar voice answered from behind her, "Nothing good, I can tell you that much."

Damon stiffened, and he twisted around at the same time that Elena gasped, clapping her hand over her mouth. "Alaric."


End file.
